Impossible Things III: If You Can Still Dream
by orianna-2000
Summary: If Rose hears the Doctor's voice wherever she goes, how will she know when he finally comes for her? Third in the Impossible Things series.
1. Grand Delusions

_This is a non-profit work of fan-fiction based upon the television series _Doctor Who_. All related characters, places, and events, belong to the BBC, and Russell T. Davies, used without permission. This story, with all original content, belongs to the author, © 2007. _

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_**Impossible Things III: If You Can Still Dream**__  
_by Orianna2000 

This story takes place post-Doomsday and is third in the _Impossible Things_ series.

Rated PG-13 for mild and implied sexual content in later chapters.

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_"But if you can still dream, close your eyes—it will seem that you can see me now and then."_  
— Song For Ten

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

**Chapter One – _Grand Delusions_**

Rose had never seen a more beautiful sight. The beach curved away from her in a perfect half-circle; its pale sand reflected the tropical sun, and the water sparkled in a thousand shades of turquoise. As she stood at the top of the cliff looking down at the scene, the wind carried to her the sound of the waves crashing against the sand, a rhythmic song that brought a shiver of memory. She forced it away with the reminder that this beach looked nothing like the other, not with all the palm trees and lush blue-green mountains in the background, with the warm breeze that played with her hair and caught the edge of her sarong. Even the air smelled exotic, mingling the fragrances of strange flowers and fruits with the tang of salt. Only one thing kept the scene from being absolutely perfect.

It figured that she would still think about _him_, even half a world away from London, in a place they'd never visited together. But she couldn't help the bittersweet memories that danced through her mind as she walked down the weather-worn staircase from the hotel. Sand gritted against her bare feet, making each step uncomfortable, but her thoughts about the Doctor distracted from any discomfort. What would he do if he were here? Would he strip down and concede to wear a bathing suit on the world's most beautiful beach? Or would he laugh at the thought and come out onto the sand in all his pinstriped glory?

She knew what her first Doctor would have done.

"Beaches are for the young!" he'd protest. Then he'd cross his arms and lean back against the TARDIS, making little shooing motions to her and Jack. Of course, Jack would pretend that he didn't know it was _not_ a nude beach, and she would pretend to be shocked and horrified at the sight of his naked bum as he raced ahead of her into the water.

But those days were long over. Jack had died, back on the GameStation, and a small part of her had died with him. Some days she missed him nearly as much as she missed the Doctor—both of them. After her very first trip with the Doctor, she'd imagined dying, being killed trying to protect or help someone. After the GameStation, she'd imagined watching the Doctor die again, changing into a stranger before her eyes, or having his regeneration fail and seeing him die for real. After the incident with the black hole, she'd even imagined being trapped somewhere far from home. She had been prepared for any of those possibilities.

But she hadn't considered the possibility of being trapped on a parallel world that looked just like home, but wasn't. She hadn't imagined being separated from both the men who had once made her truly happy. In all honesty, she'd rather have died on an alien planet than to know that the Doctor was alive and well, but so far away that she couldn't be with him. It nearly killed her to think that he would keep on living the sort of life that they'd once lived together, to know that he'd moved on without her.

Of course, she had her mum, and Mickey, Pete, and even little Johnny. A regular family they'd become, the five of them. She loved them all dearly, and if she had to be stuck somewhere, she was grateful to be with them. But it wasn't the same.

They didn't challenge her. They didn't make her feel alive.

But they did love her. And they were the only ones who even had a clue about what she'd been going through the past two years. It wasn't like she could talk to grief counsellors or therapists, because what would she say? "One of my best mates, who was like a big brother to me, was murdered by Daleks thousands of years in the future. Oh, and my other best mate, who, by the way, is the man I love more than life itself, is living his life somewhere that I can't get to without destroying the entire universe. Two of 'em, to be exact."

So, she cried alone in her bed. At first, she'd let her mum soothe her with hot cocoa in the mornings, and take her shopping in the afternoons for _everything_, since she'd arrived in this world with nothing more than the clothes on her back. It worked as a distraction for a while. But then she'd decided to make the Doctor proud. She'd gotten her A-levels in History, Physics, and Critical Thinking, and started part-time courses at University, all while working for Torchwood. No longer the ignorant shop girl from a council flat, Rose Tyler!

Yet, she still cried at night.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Rose forcefully banished all sorrowful thoughts the moment her feet touched the warm sand. It felt heavenly between her toes, and she silently thanked Pete for having decided the family needed a holiday. Today, he'd gotten up early for a few rounds of golf, and her mum had plans for an afternoon of island shopping. Mickey had promised to spend a few hours with Johnny at the pool—teaching him how to dog paddle, in theory, but she suspected that he hoped to pick up a cute girl or two with the lure of his infant charge. Johnny already knew how to bat his eyes and smile at the ladies... between the two of them, what woman could resist?

Although it was already quite warm, the beach had no other visitors this early in the day. Of course, the fact that it was a private beach owned by the hotel might have something to do with it. Rose felt utterly spoilt by the things Pete did for her and Mum, but really, who could turn down a holiday at one of the top resorts on the only remaining Hawaiian island? She had her own suite next to Mickey's and across from her parents', gorgeous views, beautiful weather, and a credit card with no limit.

But all she really wanted was some time alone on this luscious beach. She chose a spot well above the tidal marks and spread a large towel out on the sand. Another towel rolled up into a decent pillow. She squinted up at the sun, then rummaged through the bag she'd packed. Her sunscreen released the scent of coconut as she rubbed it generously into her arms and legs. Wouldn't do to get burnt so early on her holiday, would it?

As she settled back onto the towel, Rose wondered what the Doctor would think of her bathing suit. She'd picked one in the height of style here on this world, with old-fashioned bottoms that covered a lot more than she was used to, and a halter-styled top. It reminded her of something they might've worn in the 1960s on her world, and that's exactly why it had appealed to her. A little piece of history—a slight, intangible connection to the Doctor.

After a few minutes, a young waiter brought down the beverage she'd ordered: a frozen tropical drink. How she'd missed alcohol! This world's ultra-chaste England actually had a prohibition law. London just wasn't the same without a pub on every corner. This drink nearly made up for her recent abstinence, though. Fruity and sweet, with a tang that constricted her throat as she swallowed, it reminded her of something she'd had once on a world with an orange and violet sky...

With another sip of her drink, Rose opened a magazine. She'd been trying to improve her reading habits, but while a local gossip rag didn't exactly meet the Doctor's intellectual standards, it constantly amused her to note the differences between Pete's World and home. Fashions here were unusually modest. Many of the celebrities that she expected to find reports about had never been born, and as a result, some of her favourite films had never been produced. Even worse, Hollywood had been destroyed in the massive flooding that followed the rise in global temperatures due to the breach between worlds. Now, India, France, and New China were fighting to see which country would become the new leader of the film industry. She didn't really care, so long as one of them got around to making _The Planet of the Apes_. Not that the film was a realistic portrayal of the future—after all, she'd been there and back and not once had a chimpanzee spoken to her.

Well, not unless you counted ones with pink and green fur...

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

After half an hour, Rose realized that she'd been reading the same paragraph over and over, without seeing the words. The drink had helped her body to relax, but she couldn't concentrate with her mind so restless. Everything reminded her of the Doctor, or one of the worlds they'd visited, or something extraordinary she'd seen while travelling. Not bothering to mark her place, she tossed the magazine onto the sand and stretched out on her back.

The sun began to warm her and eventually the sounds of the ocean lulled her into a relaxed state. So peaceful here... No responsibilities. No frantic phone calls from Torchwood demanding she identify this artefact, or communicate with this alien, or solve this puzzle or that mystery. No wailing babies or screaming mothers. No sounds at all, except for the rhythmic crash of the waves, the gentle sigh of the wind, the occasional chirping of sea birds, and, of course, the familiar wheezing of the TARDIS' engines.

After two years, her heart no longer raced when she heard that particular sound. She didn't jump up to search for the time ship; she didn't look frantically around for the Doctor. He couldn't come back for her. He'd said that, and she believed him... but that didn't stop her mind from playing tricks on her. She heard the sound of the TARDIS materializing every time a dirigible flew overhead, whenever Mum ran the waste disposal, and sometimes even when Pete snored. She saw the Doctor in every crowd, just out of the corner of her eye. Her heart jumped whenever she walked by someone in a brown suit, or wearing Converse trainers, or even just with wild brown hair.

And she heard his voice near her ear, every time she closed her eyes.

"Rose Tyler..."

Just like that. Soft, yet backed with incredible strength. A voice that could stop an alien invasion in its tracks, topple the British government with just six words, or turn her stomach into a quivering mass of warm goo.

Of course, just now, she'd barely gotten a shiver down her spine, but that's because she knew the voice didn't exist. Not for her, not here, not any more. That didn't stop her mind from letting her hear it from time to time, of course.

"D'you have any idea how hard you were to find?" the Doctor's voice asked. "We were bouncing all over the British Isles before we figured out that you might not be in England at all. This is nice, though, innit? An island, at least, so we weren't too far off. Where are we, anyway—Hawaii? Tahiti? Polynesia? Lovely beach, this is, wherever we are. Just look at all that sand! Perfect for making sandcastles, wouldn't you say? Did I tell you about the time I saved an entire civilisation by winning a sandcastle competition? No? Remind me, sometime."

The voice paused for a moment and Rose could easily imagine him looking around, taking in the view. "It's nice and sunny, too," he continued, "Not like the last beach we were at—that was dismal, wasn't it? All windy and overcast. Oh, but—c'mon, now I'm getting sand in my shoes!"

He made an exasperated noise, and Rose could picture him shaking his leg off to one side, trying to get the sand out _without_ actually taking his shoes off and dumping them upside down. She muffled a laugh.

"Don't think I didn't hear that, young lady. That was rude, that was! Laughing at me, when all I'm trying to do is get the sand out of my shoes. D'you know what—never mind. I give in! I'm taking them off."

Now _that_ she wished she could see! Only once had she ever seen the Doctor's bare feet, and that had been her first Doctor, not this one. He'd had long toes, she remembered, long and narrow, and pale, with a sprinkling of dark hair across the joints.

"There we go! Much better. Nice and comfy now. Nothing in the world's like cool, damp sand between your toes, that's what I always say. Speaking of, you've been awfully quiet, Rose. Well, aside from that little snort of amusement a bit ago. Don't I even get a proper 'hello' after coming all this way? Navigating the Void wasn't easy, y'know. Neither was finding a way through, in the first place. But I managed, for you. Wouldn't catch me doing it for just anyone."

_Liar._ She knew better than to say anything out loud. People tended to stare when someone young and not obviously senile began holding a conversation with thin air. But it didn't matter. She knew that the Doctor loved the entire universe. He'd risk quite a lot to help someone—anything except tearing two universes apart. Sometimes she wished he _had_ taken that risk, for her. But only when she felt particularly selfish and down. Most of the time, she accepted that he'd done the right thing. After all, she would've hated it if he'd tried to come get her and the universes had both imploded as a result.

Her imagined Doctor was quiet for a few moments, then sighed. "I didn't expect a party... well, maybe just a little one, with tea... oh, and those little fairy cakes! D'you remember those cakes? I must've eaten a _dozen_ of them when we catered Jackie's birthday party! Remind me to bring a bunch back with us, yeah?"

He paused again, and Rose wondered if he'd be pouting. "So, no party, that's fine. But I really didn't think you'd ignore me, either. No 'hello, Doctor, it's lovely to see you again'? Not even a slap across the face for taking so long to get here?"

A flapping sound could have been the tails of his coat, or the palm fronds moving overhead in the breeze. Either way, the Doctor continued, "I'd be happy with just a hug, for old times' sake. Well, I say _hug._.. I mean to say that a full-fledged snog would do the trick. But, you know me, I'm content with whatever. Hug, kiss, slap—all the same, really."

They had names for people who heard voices. Rose knew, because she'd looked it up the first time she'd heard him talking to her unexpectedly. After careful research, she'd eliminated the general causes, such as schizophrenia and multiple personality disorder. That left, what? Dementia caused by a broken heart? Her mum used to have conversations with Pete, back before she'd met the alternate version of him. Maybe it wasn't that uncommon, then.

Her imaginary Doctor had never sounded so uncertain before, though. He almost sounded dejected that she wasn't talking back. Great, all she needed now was for him to take on a life of his own... It'd start with demanding she talk to him, then they'd be having conversations in public, and before you knew it, she'd have to start saving a seat for him at the corner bistro.

"Rose... what is it? Have I done something wrong? Are you upset that I took so long? Is this a bad time? Or... wait. No! Oh, no, no, no! Beach, romantic... Dammit! Tell me I didn't just show up in the middle of your honeymoon!" He huffed as though pacing desperately. "It's your honeymoon, am I right? I knew it! Is it Mickey? It's Mickey, isn't it? You've gone and married the Mickey the Idiot and here I come along and interrupt your blissful island holiday."

Rose groaned, listening to him babble. How could an imaginary Doctor be even more vexing than the real one? Finally, she rolled onto her side, away from the voice. "Look, will you shut up about Mickey?"

"Oh. Right. Of course. You're married to the man—that's disrespectful, isn't it? Sorry, no more Mickey jokes. Though, if it were _our_ honeymoon, I'd be out here _with_ you, instead of letting you sunbathe alone. Where's he got to, then? Lemme guess, the hotel has an internet café?"

Rose's heart skipped a beat at the honeymoon comment, then resumed with a painful thud. As if she needed proof, the real Doctor would never have said any such thing. The comments about Mickey, however... "Were you this annoying in real life? How'd I ever put up with you?"

"Well, excuse me. I did just travel thousands of miles—_millions_ of miles—only to find that you don't need rescuing after all. I'm a bit put out!" He sighed and made the sort of noises one might make as they tried to sit down on soft sand while wearing a dress suit and overcoat. "Wait. Hold on! Did you just ask if I was 'this annoying in _real life_'?"

Rose rolled her eyes, and bit her tongue to stop herself from calling him a baby. "I shouldn't have said that. Will it make you happier if I tell you that I'm _not_ on my honeymoon? Mickey's along, but it's just a holiday. Mum's here, too, and Pete, and the baby. Just one big, happy family, yeah?"

"Oh, yes, the baby! How's that working out for Jackie? Midnight feedings, nappies to change, all that lot. Suits her, does it?"

"She's never been happier."

"Good, good! That's great news. Fantastic. What about Mister Mickey, then? How's he getting on?"

"Just fine," she said, shifting onto one elbow. "He's Torchwood's top computer specialist. Works there with me. Last year, he hacked into an Argolin database and saved the president from being turned into a half-alien clone. Gave him a medal, they did."

A sea bird made a sound very much like the Doctor whistling. "Good for him! And... what about you? Are _you_ happy, here?"

Rose blinked to clear away the sudden tears that filled her eyes. What right did an imaginary friend have to make her cry? "Peachy," she mumbled, tired of all this.

"Rose, why won't you turn over and look at me?"

"Why?" Her fingers dug into the towel, gripping the rough fabric. "Because_ you're not bloody real_, that's why! And if I try and look at you, you'll just fade away. That's what happens every time, and I'm sick of it! It's better when you're just a voice and I can pretend... oh, God, why am I bothering to explain any of this? You're imaginary, yeah? So do me a favour and just go away! Let me sunbathe in peace."

For a long moment, she heard nothing. Thinking she'd driven him away, she let her shoulders relax just a little. Tears still fell from her eyes, but she'd spent too much time crying already. She let out a shaky breath and almost didn't hear his reply.

"Oh, Rose," he whispered. "What have I done to you?"

_(To Be Continued...)_

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_**Author's Note: **I began this story nearly a year ago, but for many reasons (mostly being overly picky and editing it to death) I haven't posted it until now. It began as a short story, but quickly took on a life of its own and now stands at nine chapters, including an epilogue. Since it is completely finished, I will try to post a new chapter every two or three days. Your comments are, as always, appreciated and welcome! _

_Thanks to **duchessoftime** and **Little Zink** for expertly catching all of my extra commas while beta-reading, and to **sensiblecat **for her patience and editing skills while Brit-picking._


	2. Close Your Eyes and See

**Chapter Two – _Close Your Eyes and See_**

_  
"Oh, Rose," he whispered. "What have I done to you?"_

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"It isn't your fault," Rose said aloud. She couldn't bear the sorrow in the Doctor's voice, even if he was only a manifestation of her still-grieving heart. "I'm the one who just can't let go. I've gone on with my life, I have. You'd be proud, I know you would. It's just... I just wish..."

What did she wish? That she'd never met the Doctor? Sometimes she wondered if it wouldn't be better to erase the misery and loneliness that she now felt. Would it...?

From somewhere behind her, a bird scrabbled across the sand and it seemed as though the Doctor cleared his throat. His voice sounded strained. "If it's what you want, I could go back and change things—make it so we'd never met. Is that—is that what you want, Rose?"

She felt a panicked twist in her stomach at the thought. "No! Of course not. It was worth it. I wouldn't lose one single moment that we spent together, Doctor, you know that! It's just that I wish that I could see you again, _for real_. I wish that every time I walk past a man in a brown pinstriped suit, I wouldn't have to look away because I'm too afraid I'll see green eyes instead of brown, or blonde hair, or a birthmark on his cheek, or anything else that means he isn't you. I just want you back! That's all."

"It's the same for me," he said. "Time was I didn't notice things like what colour hair a woman has, or how many girls in the crowd are wearing hoodies. Now... well, I still don't notice the brunettes or the redheads—well, maybe the redheads, on occasion, but never those with brown hair or green or white. Only the blondes. This one time—oh ages ago!—I was at this wedding, and—"

Rose couldn't help interrupting. "You? At a wedding?"

"Yes,_me_, at a wedding. What's so funny about that?"

She giggled. "I dunno. Isn't it awfully domestic?"

"What are you talking about? I go to weddings all the time! It isn't domestic. Well, maybe a little domestic. After all, people generally intend to set up house after they're married, and you can't say that isn't domestic, can you? I suppose a wedding would be sort of pre-domestic, then, which isn't the same thing at all," he concluded triumphantly. "Besides, I went to a wedding with you, didn't I? Two of them, matter of fact. So, as I was saying—I was at this wedding. Well, I say _wedding_, but I suppose technically it was more like the reception afterwards. Then again, the wedding itself never actually happened, so I'm not sure what you'd call it. A party? All right, then, I was at this party. It was your typical bash: loud music, dancing, drunken in-laws, all that sort of thing."

Rose heard a sound like sand shifting and a breath blown out, and then the Doctor's voice continued. "This wasn't long after I'd lost you, so I didn't feel much like partying. But I stood on the side watching people dance, and all of a sudden I saw this girl, this woman, with blonde hair, just like yours. Her bloke twirled her around and she looked like she was having so much fun. And all I could think is how much she looked like you. For a moment—just a brief moment—I thought she _was_ you, and my hearts nearly stopped. It didn't matter that I knew it was impossible. I wanted it to be you."

"It's no use, is it? Wishing for what can't ever be," Rose said. She made a small sound of amusement. "All I've got left is your voice in my head. Sometimes I think I've gone crazy and I want to tell someone, but I don't. D'you know why? Because they might take you away from me. They might put me on medication that would make me forget, and I don't want that. I'd rather have your voice, if that's all I can have. It's just... well, it's hard sometimes, that's all."

"And... you don't believe there's even a _chance_ that I'm real—that I would come back for you?"

"You would if you could. But I know you can't. The universe would implode, you said. Same as if you ever _danced_," she added, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

To her relief, he laughed, short and hard, but a laugh nonetheless. No lugubrious brooder, this Doctor. "I thought I told you that I'd been around more than nine-hundred years," he said. "I'm bound to have _danced_ at some point during all those long, lonely nights."

"Nah. Not the Doctor! Too busy saving the world to make time for things like _dancing_."

"Right, then. Guess a demonstration would be in order. Tell you what, though, we'll start with a kiss, and work our way up from there—how's that?" He paused as Rose gave a half-giggle half-sob. "Kind of hard to do that at the moment, though, what with you refusing to look at me and all. How do blind people manage to kiss, I wonder? Or, for that matter, the people of Chiroptera IV. No eyes, the Chiropterans. Must be rather awkward—don't you think?—fumbling around trying to find one another."

The Chiropterans... She'd never heard the Doctor mention them, but Torchwood had rescued a scout ship of theirs after it had crashed off Tortola. With their long, narrow jaws, it had been impossible for the aliens to speak English, but R&D had developed a device to translate all of their high-pitched trills and clicks. Their species had developed without eyes, apparently, but that lack hadn't deterred them from exploring space. In fact, the medical staff had discovered that the Chiropterans actually did have a way of seeing, just very differently from humans.

Rose tried to remember the details of the report she'd read all those months ago. "Wait, don't they have a sort of radar or sonar system? Lets 'em see with sound waves, sort of like bats, right?"

"Well, well. Look who's been doing her homework! They do indeed. A very sophisticated method of echolocation." He stopped talking and made a growling, snorting sort of noise. "Oh, c'mon, you still won't turn 'round? Because you're afraid I'm not real?"

"No," she corrected, "Because I _know_ you're not real."

"Well, then! What's the risk? If I'm not real, then you've got nothing to lose."

"Except the last little bit of my sanity!" she retorted, hating his logic. "So, if you don't mind, I'll just be hanging onto that. Feel free to keep talking, though."

A breath of wind sounded almost like a sigh. She felt it skim her shoulder blades and decided that the Doctor would be pouting right about now. Any second he would use the unfair advantage of puppy dog eyes...

"You, Rose Tyler, are a hard nut to crack, y'know that?"

"Oi! No loony jokes, if you don't mind. M'not crazy! M'just... loosely attached to reality."

"Oh, good one. I like that!" It sounded like he rubbed his hands together briskly, the way he always did when accepting a challenge. "All right, let's see. What can I do to convince you? Anything it'll take, I'll do it. Reveal some secret you told me? Describe how we met in precise detail? Better yet—something no one else would know about! The last time we had tea at your mum's flat, maybe? Or..." He paused for several seconds, a record for the Doctor in mid-prattle. "I know! How about the time we were trapped in that ice cave, yeah? I can tell you every last thing that happened. Will that do?"

"Sorry, no. You're inside my head, remember? Everything I know, you'd know automatically."

"Oh, right. Didn't think of that. Smart girl! Well, then, suppose I tell you some secret of Mickey's? You could go find him and ask about it, and then if I'm right, would _that_ prove I'm real?"

Wasn't that just what she needed—her subconscious making up secrets about Mickey! Worse yet, Mickey finding out that she still heard the Doctor's voice inside her head.

"No? All right, then—what'll it take? Hmm? What do I have to do to prove to Rose Tyler that I'm _not_ a figment of her imagination?"

"You'll do anything?"

"That's right! Anything at all. This is your one and only chance to put the Doctor to the test. Eh?" He chuckled while Rose rolled her eyes. "So, come on. What'll it be?"

Rose tried to figure out the odds that her imaginary friend would be trying to prove his own existence. Never good at mathematics, and not entirely sure that this wouldn't fall under philosophy instead, she gave up and instead tried to think of something that the Doctor would_never_ do, to prove her point.

But... if she proved herself right, then wouldn't this construct of her mind vanish? Insane as it might establish her to be, she _had_ just admitted that if she couldn't have the real Doctor, she'd be willing to accept his voice in her head. And yet, this particular voice didn't seem to realize that he _was_ only a product of her heart-broken imagination. He certainly babbled on just like the real Doctor! And that fact was starting to unnerve her, just a little.

"Oh, come on, Rose! I haven't got all day, y'know. Well, come to think of it.. I have. Nothing planned, can you believe it? No worlds to save, no timelines to set to rights. Just me and you, and... well, there's the fellow waiting back at the TARDIS, but he's patient. Well, actually, he's not. But he'll wait—I guarantee it."

At that, Rose lifted her head a few inches. "You got a new companion?"

"I've had a few over the years, as a matter of fact. More than one at a time, usually. Kept the place from getting too quiet."

Rose had expected this, and honestly wished it didn't bother her. The Doctor would need someone around. One person, spinning through all of time and space, alone? He'd go mad with no one to talk to, no one to listen to him prattle on about the ignorance of human apes and the superior intellect he possessed.

"Last year, " he continued, "I had three of 'em all at once, if you can believe it. Not sure if they counted or not, though... They were identical, see. Never could tell them apart—clones! A bit strange that. Never knew who I was talking to. Anyway, after you were gone, I didn't want to take on anyone new, but a very wise woman told me that I oughtn't be alone, said I needed to have someone around to keep me sane."

"Sane? If you with companions is _sane_, I'd like to see what you're like with no one around!" Rose paused, remembering what she'd thought a moment ago. "No, I take that back. You're crazy enough as it is... I don't think I'd like seeing you even more cracked."

"Funny, you are! Hysterical. And besides, you're the nutter around here, talking to me even though you're positive that I'm merely a figment of your imagination." He sighed. "You wouldn't have liked me, Rose."

"No?" This sounded too intriguing to let pass. "Why's that, then? And how long were you alone for, anyway?"

"Too long, and let's leave it at that, shall we? Besides, I was talking about companions, wasn't I? Yes, well, y'know how it is—you save someone's life, keep aliens from conquering their world, and before y'know it, they want to hang around for awhile, get a tour of space and time. But I couldn't go dragging some innocent bloke through to another universe, now could I? What if we got stuck here? I wouldn't mind—after all, I'd have you for company. But a companion? No, I'd never dream of bringing one along on this sort of trip."

The Doctor stopped for a moment, and when he continued, his voice held a bit of humour. "Besides, I left the last one behind about six months ago. Didn't suit me—wasn't you. Well, none of 'em are you, obviously, but this one _really_ wasn't you. For starters, she hated my clothes. Hid my shoes, if you can believe that! She said that my pinstripes made her dizzy. Dizzy! And she always left wet towels all over the TARDIS. I'd come into the console room and find a fuzzy yellow towel draped across one of the struts, or a fluffy purple towel over the Captain's chair. One time, it was a lime green towel on the time rotor! How she got it across the top of that, I'll never know."

Rose laughed. She could easily picture this. How many times had she irritated the Doctor by leaving bottles of nail varnish on the console? Or a jacket draped across one of the support struts? He'd always get annoyed at first, but then all she had to do was smile innocently and he'd hand her the offending object without a word and they'd be off to their next adventure.

Granted, it did seem strange that this pretend Doctor of hers had moved on without her, found new companions to travel with. Only rarely did she imagine a practical Doctor, one who'd left her here and gone on in his own universe, just as the real Doctor must've done. More often, his voice acted like her conscience, repeating her inner thoughts back to her. On the few occasions when he spoke to her as though he'd found a way through the Void, he would insist that little time had passed, that he'd done nothing, not even sleep, whilst working on a way to get to her. Though incredibly romantic, she supposed it wasn't exactly realistic.

She shifted onto her back and tilted her head so the shadows from her crossed arms fell across her eyes. "How long did you say it's been, Doctor? Since... y'know."

He hesitated. "It's been a long time, Rose."

"Yeah, but how long?" she pressed. "It's been a little over two years here, but time goes faster on this side of the Void. Makes me a bit dizzy, that. Mum never even noticed, but I still get sick sometimes. So, anyway, because of the difference, it could be as little as, what, four or five months, on your end?"

"Ah! Believing I'm real, now, are we?"

"No," she said quickly. "I was just wondering, is all. I figured you'd say something romantic, like 'it's felt like forever that we've been apart'."

"And if I was in your head, I'm sure that's what I would've said. But I'm not." He waited a long moment, then his voice lowered. "It _did_ feel like forever, though."

Rose couldn't reply for the knot that had lodged itself in her throat. She thought she'd finished crying, but more tears tried to flow. She sat up and blinked angrily, not about to let a figment of her imagination run amuck through her emotions. As she leaned forward, a wave crashed against the beach with an unexpected spray of white foam; the water swirled with the same intensity as her feelings. A long shadow stretched beside her, and if she wanted to, she could let herself believe that it belonged to the Doctor, that he stood a few feet behind her, just out of sight. Her hand reached toward the darkened sand before she could stop herself. She knew that the tall, narrow shadow belonged to a coconut tree, not a Time Lord, but when the Doctor's voice continued, she could almost... almost believe.

"I never stopped looking for a way through," he said. "Even when I had to stop actively searching or else lose my mind, I still kept an eye out. I couldn't stop myself. The TARDIS even helped me look, d'you know that?" He laughed a little. "She missed you just as much as I did, I think. I don't know how many times she took us off course—by centuries, or thousands of light years—if she caught just a hint of something that might've been a way through. Sentimental old thing, she is."

The TARDIS. Just thinking about her produced more tears at the edges of Rose's vision. At first, the idea that the ship was alive and slightly telepathic had creeped her out, but she'd grown accustomed to the faint tickle in the back of her mind. After the TARDIS had helped her get back to the GameStation to save the Doctor, that faint connection had grown stronger. Always there, reassuring, translating, soothing. She missed that.

Trust the TARDIS to help the Doctor find her... and maybe she would, eventually. Only a few months would've passed back in their universe, so she had no reason to think the Doctor—the _real_ Doctor, not this persistent imaginary one—had given up all hope, yet. Maybe he'd stumble across another crack and be able to come through before having to seal it off. Or, maybe he'd find a powerful alien capable of travelling between universes. Or... But no, she had to keep such hopes locked away in a tiny place behind her heart. Otherwise she'd go mad.

"Bit warm here, innit? Nice day, though." A quiet rustling might have indicated that he'd taken his overcoat off; the soft sounds that followed could have been him folding it up, or a bird fluttering about in the overgrowth. He finally cleared his throat. "So, you thought of anything yet?"

Thought of...? Oh, right, _that_. Relentless, her sub-conscious was. Rose pondered, picking up her line of thinking from before their conversation had gone off-track. What could she possibly ask an auditory hallucination to do that would settle the issue of its state of being or lack thereof?

An idea came to her; Rose smiled mischievously. "To prove you're real, yeah? Tell you what. See that bag over there?"

"The straw one, with the pink handles?"

"That's the one. Inside you'll find a bottle of sunscreen."

"All right, we are looking for sunscreen. And we have... an extra towel—good idea, that. Never go anywhere without a towel. And, bottled water—_Vitex_ bottled water! How about that? 'Pure, filtered water with essential minerals and vitamins,'" he read. "Very nice. Let's see... Sunglasses—why aren't you wearing these? It's bright out here. Oh, look! A banana—you remembered my advice. Ah, here we go—sunscreen. Now what?"

After flipping onto her stomach, Rose bent her arms a bit to reach the centre of her back. Fumbling, she unhooked her bikini top and let the straps fall to either side of her. She could imagine the wide-eyed look of panic on the Doctor's face and wished she could see it. Grinning, she said, "I'm going to start burning soon, 'cause I couldn't reach my back, earlier. Rub some of the lotion in for me, would you? If you're real, that is..."

"Oh... oh." He cleared his throat. "You're not... you're serious?"

"Yup. Go on, then."

She could clearly picture the way his mouth would be opening and closing as he tried to think of a way to reply, desperately needing to refuse but not wanting to hurt her feelings. Would he invent an excuse to run off? Or would he just vanish into the ether of her mind?

She waited...

And waited.

And, finally, let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Of course he wasn't real; she'd never believed that he was. Now she could relax and go back to enjoying her sunbathing. Maybe she'd take a nap before any other guests of the hotel came down to the beach and ruined the quiet. Later, she could take a dip in the brilliant blue-green water, and then she'd meet up with Mickey and take little Johnny off his hands. She certainly would not go back up to her room and cry.

It took Rose several moments to realize that the feather light touch on her back was not an unusually friendly breeze, but, in fact, a pair of cool hands, slick with sunscreen lotion.

"Oi!" Mortified, she jerked away, but remembered her unfastened bikini top at the last second. Scrambling frantically to cover herself and get away, Rose kicked up a spray of sand. To her vexation, quite a lot of it flew up into her face, blinding her.

"Bloody hell," she muttered. With one hand, she held the towel across her chest and hoped it covered all the vital bits. With the other, she wiped at her face, blinking savagely to get the sand out of her eyes. All the while, she seethed with panic and fury, outraged that someone might've been listening to her one-sided conversation and had decided to play a vicious prank. "Mickey, I swear to God, if that's you, I'll..."

Someone sighed with exasperation. A moment later, Rose felt a hand on her wrist, someone trying to help her up. She jerked away and knelt on the sand to rub at her eyes."Don't you touch me! Whoever you are, you picked the wrong woman to mess with. My family's back at the hotel. They'll come looking for me, and believe me, you do not want to mess with the Tylers!"

He, whoever he was, snorted and tugged at her arms, trying to stop her from touching her eyes. "You'll scratch the corneas. Here, tilt your head back."

A strong hand supported her neck as she leaned her head back. She could only see a foggy blur, and then fresh water dribbled onto her face. She blinked several times, letting the expensive bottled water rinse the sand from her eyes. Good thing she hadn't brought along the carbonated water that her mum favoured... she imagined it would've hurt just as much as the gritty sand.

The man—probably the server who had earlier brought her drink down from the bar—used a corner of her towel to dab gently at her eyes. "That should do it. Can you see all right, now?"

Rose blinked and the world came into focus. She could see the gorgeous water stretching out before her, seagulls turning slow circles in the air, and... wiggling fingers in front of her face.

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

"All of 'em? Like I can tell with you moving 'em around like that!" Irritated and embarrassed, she reached out to stop the constant motion. She grasped the hand—and then stopped breathing. She _knew_ this hand. She knew it better than her own. A sob caught in her throat. Slowly, unwillingly, Rose turned her head to look at the hand's owner.

"Hello," the Doctor said softly.

_(To Be Continued...)_


	3. Now and Then

**Chapter Three – _Now and Then_**

"_Hello," the Doctor said softly._

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Rose stared. Before her knelt a man who looked just like the Doctor, grinning at her like an idiot and wiggling his fingers. Her heart twisted in agony. She wanted it to be him, oh, how she wanted it! But it couldn't be. How very cruel of her mind to play this sort of trick! She shook her head. "No! You're not... you_ can't_ be."

"I can, and I am," he said firmly. His gaze locked onto hers. Then he lowered his voice. "C'mere."

Wordlessly, Rose threw herself into the Doctor's arms. He held her tightly, rocking her as emotions overwhelmed her and she began to weep. One hand stroked her bare back; the other tangled in her hair as he murmured soothingly to her.

When she finally lifted her head from his shoulder and looked at him, she saw that his eyes glimmered with a suspicion of tears. She'd never seen the Doctor cry before. He'd seen her bawl several times and never once complained. But he didn't cry now, he just looked back at her with adoration, never minding the red, swollen eyes or the tear tracks running down her face. She sniffed, and he pulled a handkerchief from inside his jacket and let her blow her nose. The whole time, his arms stayed firmly around her. Once she'd wiped her face clean, he stowed the handkerchief away and smiled. "Better?"

"I can see you," she said, her voice breaking. She touched his chest, which vibrated ever so slightly with a double heartbeat. "I can feel you. That's never happened before."

"That's because I'm here, Rose. Not a hologram, this time."

"But that's impossible." Her hand dropped from his chest. "S'what you said—impossible."

The Doctor shrugged and loosened his tie. "You should know better. Nothing's impossible... well, I say _nothing_, but I suppose_ some_ things really are. Not this, though. Took me a long time to find a way. Almost didn't, in fact. But I never gave up, and here I am! Would've been here sooner, but, as you know, time runs differently in this universe. The TARDIS had it rough navigating through the Vortex, even with all the jiggery-pokery I'd done to her power systems. This was as close as we could get without the risk of me crossing my own timeline."

Oh, she'd missed the way he babbled on about what he'd done in order to accomplish the impossible.

"But, we did it. And here I am," he finished, a proud look on his face.

"Poor Mum," Rose said quietly.

"Oh, yes. I imagine she'll really hate me this time 'round. I intend to steal you away for good, after all. That is, if you want to come. You... do want to come with me, don't you?"

He looked so vulnerable, staring at her with crinkles around his eyes and above his nose. As she hesitated, the lines grew deeper and he began to look desperate. She leaned forward and kissed the spot just above his nose. "Better with two, yeah?"

The grin on his face filled her heart with a warmth she hadn't felt in over two years.

"But Mum... She's been so patient with me," Rose went on. "This'll really break her heart."

"I'm sorry for that." He tucked a few strands of windblown hair behind Rose's ear. "But she's got Pete here. And the baby! Don't you worry about Jackie Tyler. She'll be all right."

Rose sighed. "Torchwood... my job. They'll be unhappy, too."

"Sod Torchwood! Look at it this way: I saved this planet from extinction. Twice! I could rightly demand all sorts of compensation for that, y'know. Power. Money. Jewels. Slaves. Anything." He looked at her sombrely. "But all I ask... all I ask is for the life of one young woman who doesn't even belong here—Rose Tyler."

And why not? After all he'd done to protect this world, and all the other worlds out there, the Doctor certainly deserved happiness and love. She gave a slight nod. "It's just... I hate to do this to 'em, after all they've been through. They've been so good to me. Pete giving me a place in his family, like I really am his daughter. Mickey being my best mate, like always, even though he knows I'll never love him the way he wants. And Mum... God, this'll kill 'em."

The Doctor didn't say anything. He just held her, and Rose knew that she couldn't struggle any longer. She'd be going with him; she'd stay with him until she died. But one thought intruded and she sat up suddenly, holding the towel to her chest.

"What is it?"

"I just wondered... will they be able to get me home? I mean, will they let 'em put me on the zeppelin in a straitjacket? It's a long flight back to England."

He stared at her, that wrinkle appearing above his nose again. "Rose...?"

"No, don't worry. I won't fight it, Doctor. I can't, not any more. I just wish it'd happened back home, instead of here, thousands of miles away. It'll be hard for 'em to get me back to London, if they're even allowed."

In disbelief, he jerked away from her and stood, then pointed a stern finger. "Oi! Stop thinking I'm not real! I thought we'd settled that, already. Sunscreen, remember?"

"But... I can see you. That means I've lost it." She fiddled with her bathing suit, hooking the straps back together and making sure it covered her properly. Then, she stood up and let the towel drop back to the sand. "I can _see_ you, Doctor. I can _smell_ you. God, you smell good—like honey and cinnamon. I can feel your hearts beating, both of 'em! You're _so_ real... but d'you see? That means you _can't_ be real."

His eyebrows furrowed and he spoke slowly. "If you'd like, I could leave. Would that make things better?"

With a spurt of panic, Rose grabbed hold of his hands and twined her fingers with his, making sure that he couldn't pull away. "Don't you dare! You're _my_ hallucination, and that means no walking away from me."

"Ah. I see. All right, then, how about this?" He extracted his hands from hers, lifted them up to her face, and curved them along her cheeks. "I'm quite willing to bet that your psychotic delusion wouldn't do this."

She barely had time to see the devilish gleam in his eyes before he lowered his face to hers and kissed her.

As Rose felt the cool, soft touch of his lips against hers, her heartbeat stuttered and then began to race. Would the Doctor do this? He never had before, and yet... No, she couldn't reason it out, not while being kissed, gentle and sweet, without any hesitation or doubt on his part. She'd been kissed before, of course, but never like this—never with pure love. It sent a tingle all the way down to her toes, which curled in response. He kept on kissing her until her defences fell and she relaxed against him and began to respond.

His tongue fluttered against her lips, and she somehow managed to gasp and moan at the same time. She opened to him, but he pulled away—the tease!—and began to nuzzle her jaw instead, kissing his way along the edge. When he reached her ear, he bit down on the lobe, then pulled it into his mouth to ease the sting. From there, he licked and suckled his way down her throat, leaving an icy trail that brought up goose flesh. Meanwhile, his hands began to roam. She felt them up and down her back, tracing her spine, her shoulder blades. While he kissed the pulse at the base of her throat, one hand moved up the back of her neck and the other descended to her hip and gently pulled her against him.

_Who needs sanity when you have this sort of fantasy?_

As he began to nip at her collarbone, Rose felt her knees grow weak. His arms closed around her waist, automatically supporting her as her hands clenched his jacket, twisting the wool. She gasped for breath, overwhelmed by the sensations that coursed through her. Even with his oral fixation, which she'd long speculated about, she never would've thought that the Doctor's tongue could do such things. Surely her imagination didn't stretch that far! More than that, she could never have guessed that his mouth would feel so cold against her skin, so very different from anything she'd experienced. So... alien.

He was alien, after all, so why should he kiss like a human?

That realization stunned her.

Rose slid her fingers through his hair, which was a little shorter than the last time she'd seen him, less wild. It took some coaxing to get him to leave off the delicious things he'd been doing to her throat, but she managed to bring his head up to where she could look him in the eye. She stared at him, her heart pounding so hard that she knew he could hear it. He gazed back and waited for her to decide.

"Doctor...?" she whispered, finally.

He grinned. "Hello."

She made an incomprehensible sound and wrapped her arms around him, perilously afraid that he would disappear as mysteriously as he had appeared. He tightened his already firm grip on her, and she felt as though the world was falling away from beneath her feet.

Once the dizziness passed, Rose pulled away just enough to look at him. The Doctor grinned back at her, and an outcry of pure emotion bubbled out of her—a laugh of delight mixed with all the despair of the past twenty-five months.

"Rose," he said quietly. He stared at her for a moment, his face changing subtly as he experienced the same emotions that she felt. Finally, he chuckled and pulled her back into his embrace. Holding her tightly, he spun them around in giddy joy. Her shrieks combined with his whooping laughter, until they tumbled to the sand together, breathless.

Gasping for air, with euphoric tears running down her face, Rose nudged his elbow off of her stomach. He collapsed right on top of her, but despite the weight, she didn't mind a bit. The Doctor was real... Not only real, but _here_, right here, with her, on her... crushing the breath out of her.

"You sure I'm real, this time?" He pushed himself up onto his elbows and busied himself by pressing tiny kisses to her face.

"You're real! You're _really_ real," she responded with a breathless giggle. Oh, God, he _was_ real!

"Oh, but are you _sure_?" Supporting his weight with one hand, he pulled his tie off over his head and tossed it onto the sand, then undid the buttons of his collar. "I mean, I could keep trying to convince you, if y'like. Wouldn't be a bother. In fact, I'm rather enjoying this whole 'trying to prove my own existence by seducing the woman I love' thing. Clever, that."

"Isn't it? Jack would be proud!" She bit the tip of her tongue teasingly, but a hint of sadness coloured her eyes.

"Ah, and who d'you suppose I got the idea from? Hmm?" He leaned down and nipped her earlobe, scraping his teeth across the tender flesh.

Rose whimpered as the Doctor nibbled away at her ear. Somehow, it felt right to be talking about Jack this way, even though he was gone. He wouldn't want it any other way. "I... I just _knew_ the two of you got up to more in that console pit than discussing theories of temporal physics and how to fix the TARDIS using old bicycle parts."

"Oh, yes." The Doctor grinned. "Naturally, we always talked about the day you'd be sucked into a parallel world and I'd have to convince you I was real by kissing you to within an inch of your life. Even practised a bit, we did."

She stuck her tongue out at him, then sobered at the expression that came over his face: first astonishment, then naked desire. She barely had time to take a breath before he swooped down on her, kissing her hungrily and with more passion than earlier. His tongue danced through her mouth, exploring with a ruthlessness that triggered all sorts of pleasant sensations. She responded in kind, earning a muffled groan from the Doctor. His body curved against hers, pressing her into the sand. And with that, Rose realized that one question she'd never had the nerve to ask had just been answered—alien he might be, but despite having two hearts, he certainly had a man's body.

As his tongue resumed its chill-inducing investigation of her mouth, the Doctor's hands began to explore her body, much bolder than before. She reacted by tugging his shirt out from his trousers, then sliding her fingers up underneath, along the soft skin of his torso. He froze at her touch, lifting his head to stare down at her. He looked astonished and uncertain, but Rose would not let him back out of this, now. Not when he'd initiated the whole thing! She met his gaze, letting her unwavering love for him show.

After a moment, desire and long-denied need won out over doubt. Rose now wondered just how far he would allow this to go... and whether they would be arrested for making love on the beach.

In the haze of bliss that followed, she didn't hear the footsteps that signalled someone's approach, and she barely heard the voice that addressed them both with contempt.

"Oh, come on! Sure, this is a deserted beach—incredibly romantic and all that—but, really, don't you think the two of you ought to get a room? There's a hotel just up the hill. Convenient, that."

The Doctor growled, literally growled, as he pulled away from Rose. "And I thought _you_ were going to wait back at the TARDIS!"

"Oh, isn't this fantastic? I should've known it was _you_. D'you know you've been out here for over an _hour_? I figured something must've gone wrong, but now I see you just got distracted! Have you even found who you're looking for, yet?"

"I thought you said you hadn't got a new companion," Rose murmured as the Doctor stood. He cleared his throat and adjusted his shirt with quick, jerky movements. Then he extended a hand to Rose and helped her to her feet, standing between her and the stranger as she straightened her bathing suit. She could feel that her cheeks were bright pink, but she couldn't help biting her lip with amusement. At least it hadn't been her mum to catch them at it!

"My sarong?" she said very quietly, not wanting this stranger to see more of her than necessary. You never knew. Some of the people in this world were fanatic moralists. The Doctor glanced around over her shoulder, making a grunt of satisfaction upon spying the sarong beside her straw bag. Without a word, he handed it to her. Rose wiped the last of the sand from her backside and tied the large square of silk around her hips.

"My apologies for the interruption," the stranger said, a sarcastic lilt to the last word. Something about his voice tugged at her memory.

"S'alright," she said, finally turning to face him. He stood with his back to the sun, and even though she shaded her eyes against the glare, she couldn't quite make out his face. His silhouette, though... A whole new wave of anxiety ran through her. Tall, broad shouldered, wearing a black leather coat... crossing his arms in annoyance, inhaling in surprise when he saw her face.

"Rose?" Her first Doctor turned angrily to his successor. "That's Rose?"

The Doctor cleared his throat. "Yes. Yes, indeed. Rose, I believe you remember my previous self."

She felt herself grow faint as the two Doctors faced each other.

Apparently, insanity had decided to present itself as an option once more.

_(To Be Continued...)_


	4. Just Like Every Other Day

**Chapter Four – _Just Like Every Other Day_**

**_  
_**

_Rose felt herself grow faint as the two Doctors faced each other. Apparently, insanity had decided to present itself as an option once more..._

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"We're in a parallel universe," the Doctor said shortly.

"Yes."

"And this is Rose."

"Yes, I believe we've established that," the other Doctor said, shoving his hands into his trouser pockets.

"'Come help me,' you said. 'I've lost someone in a parallel universe,' you said. 'Help me get her back,' you begged." The Doctor circled his future self slowly, his voice dripping with disdain. "Here we are, on that parallel world. And here you are—_with Rose_!"

The Doctor brushed some of the sand off his jacket and then folded his arms. "Is there a problem?"

"Is there a—yes! Yes, there is a very _big_ problem. Either you've decided to pick up a parallel resident and try to pass her off in our own universe, or this is actually _our_ Rose. Without even getting into the moral implications of the first option, I can only come to one conclusion. Just one." He faced himself with a dangerous expression. "_You lost Rose!_"

The Doctor reached up and tugged on his earlobe. "Yes... But you can't seriously think it was my fault! There was an entire army of _Cybermen_ coming through a multiversal _breach_, not to mention the—well, never mind them, but _Torchwood_! Oh, yes. Torchwood! It was all _their_ fault, really. They're the ones who—"

He didn't get to finish his defence, because his previous incarnation drew an arm back and punched him right in the nose. Rose gasped and covered her mouth. "Doctor, stop it! What d'you think you're doing?"

"No offence, Rose, but this is between me and him." He leaned over and shouted, "It _was_ your fault, because I trusted you to take care of her! It isn't bad enough that you had to go and regenerate into a fop? You had to go and lose Rose, too?"

She hadn't ever seen the Doctor this angry, not even when she'd saved her father's life and brought Reapers down on them all. Even at his worst, she'd never seen him hit anyone. And now, here he was, alive and livid, arguing with himself. One in black, the other in brown; one with close cropped hair, the other with an unruly fringe; one with blue eyes, the other with brown; yet, both the Doctor. How was this even possible?

"You hit me! I can't believe you hit me!" The Doctor got to his feet, pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed away the blood on his upper lip. He glanced at the stained cloth, then looked up with a dark expression. "Why do you think you can _judge_ me? You don't know what happened! You weren't there, I was. D'you think I haven't spent every single minute agonizing over what happened? Imagining what I could've done differently? Poisoning myself with regret? Well, I have! And I'll tell you what else—I've also spent every minute trying to find a way to fix it. So hate me all you like, but at least I got her back!"

"With_ my_ help." The Doctor sucked on his knuckles to ease the sting, then shook his head. "I can't believe you hid the fact that it was _Rose_ we were rescuing!"

"Would you have helped if you'd known it was her? I couldn't take the chance that you'd refuse. Everything was ready, I'd done all the calculations, I _knew_ it would work. But I needed another Time Lord to help navigate the Void, and if you'd said no..." His face closed off, hiding his expression.

"You really think I would've refused? To rescue Rose?" He snorted. "And another thing—what was that back there on the sand? Were you_ snogging_ her?"

The Doctor glanced at Rose. The tiniest hint of a smirk turned up the corner of his mouth. "At least I admitted that I've got feelings for her."

"Took you long enough, too, didn't it?" he countered.

As the argument escalated, Rose quietly stepped away. Feeling rather light-headed, she sat on the bottom step of the long staircase and watched as the two incarnations of the Doctor argued. Every so often one or the other would gesture in her direction. She would've renounced reality once and for all, except that Mickey showed up after a few minutes, carrying little Johnny.

"What's all this, then?" He sat down beside her.

"Don't ask me," she said, taking her baby brother onto her lap. She rubbed noses with the baby, making him giggle. His innocent delight always made her smile and now helped restore a bit of reality to her system. "You can see 'em, though?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Both of 'em. What're they fighting for?"

Rose bit her lip. "Me, I think."

Mickey shook his head as the two Doctors began to grapple, throwing punches and shouting insults. "You better go and break it up. Won't have a ride home if you don't."

She sighed. Mickey was probably right. Good to know that she hadn't lost all grip on reality, though. Of course, she could be imagining Mickey's presence—his matter-of-fact acceptance of seeing two Doctors would serve to reinforce her delusion. But if Mickey wasn't real, she truly had nothing left.

A Gallifreyan phrase reached her ears, untranslated by the TARDIS. Rose winced. She'd never expected to see the Doctor again. Now she had two of them, but they couldn't seem to get along. In her mind, she dubbed them 'Nine' and 'Ten', to keep them straight. Would any more show up? There were eight previous incarnations, after all. The Doctor had told her about all of them not long after he'd regenerated. He hadn't mentioned being able to cross timelines and safely be in the same place as himself, though. Suppose the rest were waiting back at the TARDIS? Imagine the chaos!

Shifting Johnny over to her hip, Rose stood and made her way across the beach. The sand felt cool beneath her feet, but the air had grown hot. Only the occasional breeze kept her from being uncomfortable, and she wore practically nothing. How could the Doctor tolerate wearing a heavy black jacket? Or a pinstriped suit jacket over three layers of shirts?

The two men continued to shout at each other. She couldn't make out their words, but Ten jabbed his finger into Nine's face and looked fierce. Neither noticed her approach.

Rose cleared her throat. They ignored her.

She shouted, "Oi!" They kept arguing.

Johnny began to wail. And, as one, the Doctors noticed.

Ten smiled broadly, while Nine went a bit pale, his eyes going from Rose to the infant in her arms. Rose bounced the baby, trying to shush him, and Nine finally raised a hand to point. "That... that's a baby."

"Brilliant observation. Good to know that entire century spent in University was not in vain!" Ten rolled his eyes. After wiping his hands on a handkerchief, he walked over and took the baby from Rose's arms. It didn't take long for the baby to stop crying when presented with a stream of silly faces. Before long he began giggling at the Doctor. "Oh, look at that! He's got your smile, Rose."

"His name's Johnny," Rose said, grinning. "After you, sort of."

Ten raised his eyebrows in astonishment. "But that's brilliant! Never had a baby named after us, have we?"

If possible, Nine grew even more pale."But... but what's it doing here?"

"Mickey brought him down. They've been swimming—isn't that right? Yes, you have," she cooed, reaching out to tickle Johnny's damp toes.

Nine looked over to where Mickey waited, then back at the baby. "He's not Mickey's."

"No, he's not," Rose drawled with amusement. She glanced at her second Doctor. "You didn't tell him much, did you?"

Ten shrugged. "Didn't have time, really. And then I thought, why spoil the fun?"

Nine stared at his later self and the baby. Rose had never seen him look so flabbergasted. She decided to draw the sport out a little. "He was a bit of a surprise, really. I mean, who would've guessed?"

"Certainly shocked me, and _I_ should've known better," Ten said, with a wink at Rose. "After all, it's what I did that brought him into existence."

Nine's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "You... and... and... but... How?"

"It's quite simple, really." Ten grinned smugly. "You bring a man and a woman together, two that are destined to fall in love, and, well, nature tends to work the rest out on its own."

Nine's jaw dropped. He made noises, but no words came out of his mouth. He grew more alarmed when Ten unceremoniously handed the baby over to him.

"You! Don't you dare drop that baby!" Jackie's shrill voice carried across the beach.

His arms contracted automatically to make sure the baby didn't fall, but he shook his head. "I can't do this. I'm going back to the TARDIS."

"Not with the small fry, you're not," Ten said gaily. "Jackie forgave us for stealing Rose, all those years ago, but I'm not so sure she'll let you get away with taking this little one, too. Got to leave her someone to raise, after all."

"I don't understand. Surely you're not leaving him...?" He looked to Rose in bewilderment, then stared as his later incarnation swept Jackie up into a hug. "Well, I had my doubts, but that settles it—I've gone mad!"

Rose had forgotten how much this Doctor had hated spending time at the flat with her mother. After his regeneration he'd taken her home on a regular basis and had often stayed for tea and a friendly visit with her mum. She'd never figured out if a basic shift in personality caused the change, or whether he'd developed an appreciation for Jackie because of how she'd tended him during his regeneration sickness.

"Don't worry, Mum won't kick up a fuss. She's always known I'd be leaving if you came back for me. Good thing she'll have Johnny, yeah? He's my little brother," she added with a grin. "Didn't take long for her and Pete to get together here; this little fellow clinched the deal."

"Pete? Your father's alive, here?" He gave her a sharp look, then glanced around the beach, finally resting his gaze on Jackie. "And you've got your real mum?"

"Yeah, of course. Mickey, too. See, this world's Jackie and Mickey were killed awhile back." She deliberately skipped over the details, all she'd ever learned about timelines and paradoxes coming back to her. "First, Mickey decided to stay, and then a while later you did a brilliant spot of matchmaking and convinced Mum to hop over to be with Pete."

The Doctor stared at her, his blue eyes intense. "Then why d'you want to leave with us? You've got a family here, Rose. People who love you."

She reached up and touched his cheek. "You're my family, too. And I love you, even if you don't know it yet."

Jackie nudged Rose out of the way. "I want a word with you, Doctor."

He clenched his jaw and kept his eyes on Rose. "Fine, but use this cheek if you must. My successor's got a mean right hook, so that cheek's a bit sore already."

But, instead of the slap he expected, he received a kiss on his lesser-abused cheek. He jerked his gaze from Rose and gaped at Jackie. "What's that for?"

Jackie smiled. "For sending her home. For keeping her safe, just like you promised."

Rose inhaled in alarm and gave a sharp tug on her mother's arm. "Shut it, Mum! That hasn't happened yet—you're going to cause a paradox!"

"No, actually, it's all right. I won't be remembering any of this, once we're back home. Too dangerous—might end up causing a paradox, like you said, Rose. Glad to know I do the right thing, when the time comes," he added.

"You've always done the right thing," Rose said. But her eyes held a trace of sad memory, and she glanced away for a moment, lest the Doctor see that she resented some of the decisions he'd made for her, or rather, that he would eventually have to make for her.

Sensing the sombre mood, Jackie took the baby and gave Rose a quick kiss. "Don't leave without saying goodbye, d'you hear me? Pete's on his way from the links; he'll be here in ten or twenty minutes. Meanwhile, I'm gonna go have a word with himself." She nodded toward the other Doctor.

Once they were alone in the shade beside the TARDIS, the ninth Doctor took Rose by the hand. "I will always do whatever it takes to keep you safe. Apparently, that'll include something that kills me. And later, something that breaks my hearts." He looked seriously at her. "I've no regrets."

Rose swallowed and placed her palm over his chest, feeling once again the double beat of his hearts. The cold leather of his jacket grazed the sides of her hand, and with a wave of dizzy, wistful regret, she remembered this Doctor: his manic grin, his smouldering blue eyes, the way he smelled of mechanical grease and worn leather and exotic spices.

He reached up and covered her hand with his own, pressing it against his chest. With his other hand, he nudged a strand of hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering to brush down her jaw. "You've changed," he said quietly.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Have I?" Rose asked.

"You look..." And he paused, his cheeks tingling ever so slightly with a blush as he looked her up and down and realized she wore nothing but the two-piece bathing suit and thin sarong. The words "grown up" came to mind, but he closed his mouth on them. That would seem to imply she hadn't been while travelling with him, and that made him feel a bit pervy. She _had_ matured, though, and lost the last vestiges of baby fat. She hadn't lost her curves, but he noticed her muscles looked more toned. She also held herself differently. Less innocent, like she'd lost the carefree parts of her personality, and more shielded, as though she'd had to defend her innermost self from the world, locking away her heart.

_That_ he recognized all too well, and for a moment he hated his later self for letting this happen to Rose, for letting her become like him. But, he'd seen the stark melancholy in his other self's eyes when he'd crossed his own timeline in order to ask a favour—"_please, just one thing!_"—and he'd felt the loneliness that would permeate every cell in his body. At the time he hadn't understood what had happened, but he certainly knew the utter loss he would feel without her. He'd do anything to keep Rose safe and that wouldn't change with his regeneration. Whatever had happened, or would happen, had been, and would be, beyond his control. And he'd chance crossing his own timeline to get her back, a dangerous risk, but under the circumstances, one he wholeheartedly agreed with.

"You cut your hair," he said finally, running his fingers through it with more daring than he usually possessed. "Looks nice."

"Better for all the running and getting into trouble I do." Rose gave a cheeky smile.

"Same old, eh?"

"Better with you."

He looked at her, seeing clearly how much she'd missed him. He felt a pang of regret as his hands moved over her hair, stroking and petting gently. "I'm sorry," he said. "So sorry."

"For what?"

"For whatever happened that made me regenerate. For stranding you here. And... for never saying how I felt. He—_I_—was right. I was a coward for not telling you."

Rose looked up at him, smiling, even though she had tears in her eyes. "Don't say that. You gave your life for mine—that's impressive. And it's not your fault that I've been stuck over here. It's just stupid luck that I couldn't hold on long enough and got pulled toward the breach. At least I was nabbed and brought here. It would've been a lot harder for you to save me out of the Void, yeah? And as for the other... I always knew you cared. Him," she jerked her head toward the tenth Doctor, "I wasn't always so sure. But, you? Never doubted it."

"Still, I should've told you. You fixed me when I was broken... made me want to live again, if I could live with you. But I never told you that, did I? I never showed you how much I needed you, and I should have! I should've kissed you, instead of just holding your hand."

But Rose shook her head. "Every time you held my hand, it was better than a kiss. It made me feel loved and needed and safe all at once. I know you had your reasons."

"Stupid, all of 'em! There's no excuse. I'm sorry." His fingers grazed her lips, feeling them curve into a smile.

"What's stopping you now?"

He dropped his hand, startled. "What?"

Rose reached up to caress the planes of his face. It felt so heavenly that he shut his eyes and let the shivers course down his spine without caring. She touched everywhere, as if memorizing his features. He felt her fingers move up his jaw, circle the mole on his right cheek, trace the edges of his ears, the lines of his forehead, the slight dip of his temples, then skim down his cheekbones, coming to rest finally on his mouth. He parted his lips as she outlined them with the tip of her finger.

She stepped closer, and his arms automatically wrapped around her, drawing her against him. He could feel the heat of her body even through his clothes. For a brief moment he wondered what that blessed warmth would feel like against his bare skin, fire touching ice. Would they burn together?

No, such thoughts were lunacy. She couldn't possibly find him attractive. His later self, sure—he'd turned into a pretty boy with lots of hair, freckles, and even dimples. Dimples! But now? Just an old man with big ears and a nose that could politely be called "Roman".

"What's stopping you?" Rose repeated softly.

He opened his eyes to see her looking up at him with eyes that nearly glowed with love for him. She didn't mind this body, then? His gaze dropped to her mouth and without meaning to, he felt himself leaning forward, tilting his head. The moment his lips brushed against hers, a jolt ran through his body, igniting something deep within him. He wanted to burn, so desperately, with her.

With a moan, he crushed her against him, kissing her with a ferociousness that surprised and dismayed him. But he couldn't slow down or soften the kiss. He needed this more than he needed to breathe.

Rose didn't have a respiratory bypass, though. Eventually she broke away, panting, but she kept her arms around him, not rejecting him or wanting to stop, just needing a moment to breathe. Amazing how exactly their bodies fit, each curve and plane conforming as if made for that purpose alone. He didn't know how he'd ever lived without Rose in his arms. He felt her hands slide beneath his jumper, creating trails of fire across his back. Her lips found their way to his neck... and was that _him_ making those sounds?

His hands dropped to her waist, holding her against him as he kissed her again. She tasted indescribably of Time, and the Void, and the Universe itself, with just a touch of mango daiquiri. Pure, utter, need overwhelmed him. He turned and pressed her against the TARDIS. If he could form cohesive thoughts, he'd probably be worried about someone seeing them, specifically his later self. More specifically, Jackie Tyler. But he couldn't think, and after all, hadn't he caught himself snogging Rose down on the sand? _He _had loved her first... didn't he deserve this chance? Besides that, he'd have to erase his memory once they got back to their rightful universe—so unfair! Forget the way Rose's lips felt against his? The way her body curved just so, and the way her hips moulded to his? He'd rather die!

But, apparently, he _would_ die, sooner rather than later, and without ever doing these sorts of things to Rose. Shame that, but it just underscored that he deserved this moment with her, preferably alone. A bed wouldn't be such a bad thing, either, although there would be rather a lot to explain to Rose about _that_. Right now, he didn't care. He'd explain afterwards, if necessary, or let his later self deal with the consequences.

At that moment, the TARDIS chose to open her doors, and as it happened, the two of them had been leaning against those very doors in the midst of their quite passionate embrace.

They tumbled inward, falling with a decided lack of grace. The Doctor landed hard on the metal ramp. His lean body cushioned Rose from the worst of the fall, but he had the breath knocked from his lungs as a result. Still, once he'd recovered, the Doctor found their position to be rather close to what he'd been imagining just a few moments earlier. It could work, he decided. He wrapped his fingers around the back of Rose's head, intending to pull her down for another kiss, but he noticed a tiny spark of gold flashing in her eyes. It gave him pause, and during that long second, he noticed something important.

The TARDIS was singing to Rose.

_(To Be Continued...)_

* * *

_**Author's Notes:** I forgot to mention it before, but for those interested in such things, this story uses British spelling and grammar. I couldn't have done any of this without my beta reader, **Little Zink**, and my new Brit-Pickers, **aligoestonz **and** jvgymnast**._


	5. Residual Consequences

**Chapter Five – _Residual Consequences_**

_The TARDIS was singing to Rose..._

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"She missed you," the Doctor said quietly, in astonishment.

Rose nodded as he helped her stand. The colours inside the TARDIS had changed, disorienting her for a moment, but she could feel the gentle melody of the Time Vortex in her mind, an ethereal chorus welcoming her home. Once on her feet, she moved to the nearest support column. She brushed her fingers across the organic material. The music grew louder inside her head; a smile lit up her face. She closed her eyes and leaned her cheek against the column. The melody turned into a series of images, not quite words, expressing affection and fond remembrance, with an underlying sense of melancholy and loneliness.

"I know. I missed you, too," Rose whispered. A tear sparkled briefly as the light caught it on its way down her cheek. "I won't leave again. I promise."

She pressed a light kiss to the column, then turned to the Doctor. He stood there with his mouth open, gaping at her. After a second, he snapped his jaw shut. His eyes lit with a strong emotion, almost anger, but probably more indignation.

"You spoke to her! How long have you been able to talk to my TARDIS?" he demanded.

Rose shrugged. "A while. She gets lonely, y'know."

"Yes, I know. Bound to happen when you're the last of your species. But she doesn't talk to my companions!"

"She talks to me."

"Rose..." He took her by the arms and looked down at her. "I saw something, in your eyes. When we first fell into the TARDIS, there was something... a sort of light. What was it?"

She lifted her shoulders in confusion. "Sunlight reflecting? How would I know?"

The Doctor frowned. "No. Not sunlight. It reminded me of..."

His head began to shake back and forth, then he abruptly turned his gaze to the console. As he stared at it, Rose got the impression that he asked something of the TARDIS. After a moment, his head jerked back to her. He stared, his blue eyes wide and accusing. "How? How is it possible that you have a bit of the Vortex in you? That _isn't_possible!"

"Vortex? D'you mean the Time Vortex? What the TARDIS travels through when we're going somewhere?"

"Yes! I mean the Time Vortex! Well, no, not exactly what the TARDIS travels through. It's the energy she holds within her, what allows her to pass through the Vortex. For some stupid reason the Time Lords gave 'em both the same name... but that's not important. Remember Blon Fel Fotch? The Slitheen? She looked into the Heart of the TARDIS, and the TARDIS gave her a second chance—turned her into an egg so she could live her life over again, without making the same mistakes. It's an incredibly powerful force, capable of _anything_. It isn't possible for a human being to absorb even a little of that power and survive! _What did you do, Rose?_"

Rose felt the TARDIS in her head again, supporting her. The poignant singing threaded through her mind, touching her memories. Slowly she began to speak. "We were gonna die. So, you... you sent me home—you wanted me safe and Mum loves you for that. But I couldn't just pretend to live a normal life, eating chips while you were off dying. I couldn't abandon you to 'em..."

"To who?" He sighed gruffly and shook his head. "Never mind. What did you do? Tell me what happened."

_Golden light... pulsing, breathing, living..._

"I looked into the TARDIS," she murmured, her eyes unfocused. "And the TARDIS looked into me."

"You looked into the Time Vortex?" His hands closed around her shoulders, squeezing in alarm and worry. "No one's meant to do that, Rose! It's too dangerous!"

"_What do you want, Companion? What is it you desire that you dare to look into my Heart?"_

"I had to save you," she said. Her voice quivered as the emotions bled through the recollection. "I had to keep you safe."

"_The Doctor? Our Doctor... He is the last of his kind—he mustn't die! Go to him, Companion. Keep him safe from the false god!"_

"The TARDIS, she loves you. She gave me the power of death and life to save you. You would've died, but I saved you. They killed Jack, but I brought him back. Oh, God! Jack's alive!" She gasped with joy and shock at that revelation. Eventually, the Doctor had helped her to remember most of what had happened that day, but the fact that she'd saved Jack hadn't ever come up. Mostly she knew that she'd taken the power and used it to save the Doctor from the Daleks. "And I... I wiped 'em out of existence. For you. All of it was for you."

"I don't understand." He swallowed, using his thumb to wipe away Rose's tears. His voice rose. "It should've killed you, Rose. Why didn't it kill you?"

"The TARDIS is a smart old girl," said the other Doctor, from the doorway. He patted the railing thoughtfully as he walked inside. "She must've done something, made it possible for Rose to carry the Vortex and survive."

"Yes, but what? We'll get back to the all-important question of '_why did you let her?_' in just a mo'." The Doctor glanced at his future self, then back to Rose. His hands slid from her shoulders, leaving her shivering. "What did the TARDIS do to let you carry the Time Vortex? It should be impossible! You're human. Not even _I_ could survive something like that, and I'm a Time Lord!"

"You didn't survive," she whispered.

He stared at her in horror and sudden understanding. "That's how I'll regenerate. I'll take the energy away from you and it'll kill me."

"I'm sorry." Rose felt anguish rise in her, feelings she hadn't dealt with since the regeneration. Her shoulders shook as she covered her face with both hands. "I'm so sorry!"

"No, no, no! Rose, no." He pulled her into his arms, hugged her fiercely. "Hush. It's worth it! I'd give my life for you a hundred times and never be sorry once. Don't cry for me! Never for me."

The other Doctor walked up to the console and laid his hands against it. He avoided looking at the two of them. "I never figured out how Rose was able to survive. She's special... but then, you know that already. It's why you chose her as a companion."

Nine stroked Rose's hair, calming her. Over her head, he said, "I saw the spark of gold in her eyes—the Vortex is still in her, at least a fraction of it. Has it done anything to her?"

Ten looked abash as he scratched the back of his neck. "To be honest, I hadn't really checked. I'd no idea any of it had lingered. In my defence, the regeneration went bad. I barely remembered what had happened... and, well, she seemed all right. Better than all right, actually."

"No wonder you've got so much hair—your brain must've come out your scalp! Check now!" he growled.

"Quite right," the Doctor agreed. Together, they escorted a rather nervous Rose to the medical laboratory.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The room looked like most of the TARDIS, with softly lit coral walls and support columns. Beneath one such column sat an examination bed. A lot of very clean counters and cabinets took up the rest of the space, covered with several devices that looked vaguely futuristic, and a few that rather looked more like sports equipment than anything medical.

Rose shivered as she sat on the bed. She hadn't remembered the full extent what she'd done, not until now, and the idea that a bit of something that had actually _killed_ her first Doctor was still inside her... it was terrifying. The Doctor draped a blanket around her shoulders, which helped a little. "Always a bit cold in here," he said. "Never did figure out why."

None of the tests they ran hurt, to her relief. The two of them mumbled back and forth, taking samples of her blood, checking her brainwaves, and mapping her neural system, all the while spouting phrases like _artron radiation_ and _huon energy_.

Finally, the Doctor stared at a computer screen, his face carefully blank. His reading glasses had slid down to the tip of his nose. "This is impossible. Utterly inconceivable! Out of the question. Unimaginable. Unthinkable! Not within the realm of possibility. Cannot be—"

"Oi, mate! I get the picture." The Doctor shoved him out of the way so that he could look at the results. He straightened, then leaned over and read the computer screen again. "No. Absolutely not. This is..."

"Impossible?" The Doctor smirked. "Told you."

"Run the tests again," he demanded.

"I did. Twice, already."

Rose sat up and bit her lip. The way they were acting frightened her, but the TARDIS sent a soothing melody into her mind. She took a deep breath and let it out. "Well, what's it say? Whatever it is, it's my own fault. I'm responsible and I don't regret a thing. So, what is it?"

The tenth Doctor opened his mouth, but said nothing. The ninth Doctor looked grim. But, surely the TARDIS wouldn't be reassuring her if it was as bad as it seemed. She looked from one Doctor to the other. "Well?"

"Something's... changed you," began the Doctor, as he removed his glasses.

"Not the Vortex," Nine interrupted. "It's too specific. It had to be the TARDIS. Clever girl, but you shouldn't have meddled! It's wrong, and you know it."

The TARDIS sang on, unrepentant in the face of her Doctor's disapproval.

"What's she done? It can't be anything bad—she wouldn't hurt me."

"Depends on your point of view, I suppose. She took an awful risk. It would've had serious consequences if we hadn't been able to find you and bring you home. It still might have grave results. Especially if you ever decide to leave."

"What d'you mean? I'll die, or something, if I ever leave you and the TARDIS?" She suppressed the sliver of fear that made her stomach go cold, and instead, shook her head emphatically. "It doesn't matter. I'm not ever leaving, remember? I promised—I'm staying forever."

"Forever is a long time, Rose," the ninth Doctor said sourly. "Especially with just one person for company. You might change your mind after a few hundred years. Especially since the company in question is _him_."

"There's nothing wrong with him! He's you, just... different. But, hold on. Did you say a few... hundred years?" Rose's mind spun. She tried to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. "You're saying I can't die? She's made me like you? Will I regenerate, then?"

The ninth Doctor shook his head. "No. You're not a Time Lord, Rose. You're still human... in a manner of speaking. It's just... she's inhibited cellular decay. You won't age. You won't die."

"You'll stay just as you are, forever," Ten added, a hint of sadness in his voice.

"But, what if I'm injured?" she asked. "If I can't regenerate, is that it?"

He pursed his lips as he thought about it. Finally, he shrugged. "Only one way to find out."

Rose blanched as the Doctor pulled a sharp scalpel from a drawer. It had to be done. They had to know what would happen if she got injured. After a deep breath, she extended her arm; both Doctors smiled at her. One supported her hand while the other made a shallow incision at the base of her thumb. It hurt, but that didn't matter, not with the Doctor holding her steady. As the blood welled up, he grabbed a small object and held it over the wound. Blue light flickered from the device, and as she watched, the blood clotted and the cut healed. By the time the Doctor shut the blue light off, and dabbed the blood away, not even a scar remained.

"Incredible," the ninth Doctor murmured.

"What, your little blue light didn't do that?"

"Nope." Ten tucked the device into a pocket. "This is nothing but a scanner. And it tells me that your cellular regeneration is off the scale. I suspect that even if we were to cut off your entire hand, it would grow back. Sound familiar?" He grinned and wiggled the fingers of his right hand at her.

Rose made a face and stuck the tip of her tongue out at him. "But you said _that_ was because of residual... residual cellular energy from your regeneration."

"Clever girl," Ten said, still grinning. "You remembered."

"Someone cut off my hand?" Nine interrupted, looking incredulous.

"A Sycorax." Rose said, examining her finger. "Nasty one, at that. Challenged him to a duel for the planet, you did. Very romantic."

Nine shot a very dark expression to his future self. "Romantic, was it? Trying to impress Rose, I suppose. Long hair, freckles, sideburns, and now, duels the results of which might alter human history beyond recognition?"

Forcing an uneasy grin, Ten wiggled his fingers again. "Don't worry, I was lucky—it grew back. See? It was within a half day of my regeneration. That's the only reason I challenged him to a sword fight, y'know. I might've just woken from regeneration sickness, but I wasn't stupid. Saved the world, didn't I? And looked damn sexy in the process, too! Isn't that right, Rose?"

She slid off the exam table and held her hands up defensively. "Leave me out of this one, boys!"

Ten glanced at her, hurt. "I distinctly recall that you said I was sexy, up on that ship. And need I remind you of the events on New Earth?"

"New Earth?" Nine's eyes narrowed. "What happened on New Earth?"

"D'you mean when Cassandra snogged you?" Rose said innocently. She didn't exactly want her old Doctor to know she'd been admiring his new body.

"Um, no, actually. I rather meant—"

"So, Pretty Boy gets around, does he?" Nine cut in. He advanced, his expression darkening.

Rose hid a smile. "Oh, he gets all the ladies, this one. Lady Cassandra. Queen Victoria... _She_ made him a knight, if you can believe that!"

Ten cleared his throat and made a strategic retreat to Rose's side. "Um, Rose, sweetheart..."

She kept on as though she hadn't heard, ticking the names off on her fingers. "Harriet Jones, Prime Minister. Lucy, the waitress from that parallel Earth we were on, remember? Oh! Sarah Jane. He gave her a tin dog," she added.

"Sarah Jane?" Nine's jaw dropped. "Sarah Jane _Smith_? You saw her, again?"

"Oh, yes." Ten smiled broadly. "Had a wonderful time battling Krillitanes. She's aged beautifully, she has! Invited her along, but she had work to do on Earth. I hear she's adopted a son, now."

Rose continued as if uninterrupted. "Let's see, then we had Ida. He jumped into a big, black hole for her. Madame de Pompadour... well, less said about _that_ the better, but I do recall a bit of bragging about her having snogged you."

Ten flinched. "Rose, maybe this isn't..."

But Rose kept going. It was just too funny to wind them up. "Right, then there was that octopus lady, a cephaloid...?"

"Cephalopod," he corrected. "Close, though. But, we weren't really... We never..."

"Hush. Then we met Yvonne. Right mess that was, wasn't it? Oh," she paused for dramatic effect, "And don't forget—Mum. Kissed her, didn't you?"

Nine stopped his advance, the vaguely interested look turning to one of faint disgust. "Hang on. Is that 'mum' as in, the Queen Mum? Is Rose telling me that you kissed Queen Elizabeth's mother, or is Rose actually telling me that you kissed _her mother_?"

(To Be Continued...)


	6. Only Better

**Chapter Six – _Only Better_**

_Is Rose saying that you kissed Queen Elizabeth's mother, or is Rose actually telling me that you kissed _her mother_?"_

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The Doctor slid behind Rose for protection and held out one finger in hopes of stalling Nine's advance. "To be fair, now—Jackie kissed_ me_. Not the other way 'round! You can't really think I'd sink so low as to..." He stopped and cleared his throat, suddenly aware of having entered dangerous territory. "...to kiss Rose's mum?"

"I don't know. Let's add up what I _do_ know, shall we? You show up just after I send Rose and Jack into medieval Japan. You look pathetic, because, as I now know, you lost Rose. Understandable—the pathetic part, not the losing Rose part. That, I can't forgive. So, where was I? Ah, yes. _Pathetic_. An hour after you go off to fetch this mysterious missing companion, I find the two of you on the beach, getting all cosy in the sand. We won't get into the long list of your apparent conquests, because I'm reasonably certain that Rose made most of those up just to be amusing." He flashed her a quick grin. "But, then there's what Rose has been telling me about never being sure of how you felt toward her. Was it so hard? Three little words?"

"_You_ never said them," Ten pointed out.

Nine took another menacing step forward and Rose found herself sandwiched between the two Doctors. The scratchy wool of one Doctor's jacket rubbed against her back, while the cold leather of the other Doctor's jacket brushed against her front. As the two of them glared at each other over her head, she couldn't help but grin. After catching the ninth Doctor's eye, she poked her tongue out between her teeth. "Every girl's fantasy, don't you think?"

For a moment, he looked utterly blank. Then a red tinge began to colour his face, starting with his cheeks. He tried to step back, but Rose caught his arm. ""And where're you going? We've got a rare opportunity here. Be a shame to pass it up."

"She's right, y'know," said Ten. He stepped closer to Rose and wrapped his arms around her hips. For a moment, he nuzzled her neck—deliberately to get a rise out of his counterpart—then he sighed. "Unfortunately, we have things to do."

"Wait a minute. You never finished explaining." Rose twisted in his arms so that she could look at both of them. "I haven't regenerated—you said that'd be impossible—so how come I've got all this energy going about healing me?"

The Doctor released her and ran his fingers through his hair, causing it to stand on end. "Well, I suspect it's related to what the TARDIS did. She couldn't change your DNA to Gallifreyan, she couldn't make you a Time Lord. So, she did the next best thing. She gave you the ability to stay just as you are, without ageing. But if something happened, a fatal injury, what'd be the point? You humans are so _fragile_, after all."

"So, she changed your cells just a bit," the other Doctor continued for him. "Made 'em stronger, gave 'em the ability to create extra energy when needed. You get hurt, or ill, the cellular energy kicks in and fixes the problem."

"Sorta like Jack's nanogenes?" Rose asked. That would make sense.

Both Doctors nodded, though it was the tenth who spoke. "Just like nanogenes, except that it's all you—no external helpers."

"A bit handy, if you think about it," Nine added. "You won't have to worry about changing your face every time you have an accident. I mean, look at what I have to go through! Pinstripes? And who wears plimsolls with a suit, anyway?"

"Genuine Converse, I'll have you know!"

Nine snorted and Rose quickly held up one finger before the two of them could start arguing again. "So, what you're saying is... I'm like a Time Lord, only better, yeah?"

Ten's mouth opened, but he didn't say anything. His eyebrows scrunched together and he looked at Nine for help. His younger self just shrugged, disconcerted. Neither of them said anything for a long stretch of time.

It gave Rose the chance to actually think about what had happened, what they were saying had been done to her. What would've happened if the Doctors hadn't come through the Void for her? She wouldn't age, so eventually her mother, or someone else, would've noticed. She wouldn't have been able to explain it and it would've led to all kinds of testing by Torchwood; probably _not_ the painless sorts that the Doctor performed. They'd lock her up like a lab rat, trying to find the secret of her immortality, and if they found out what happened when she got injured, they'd probably even try to find a way to capture or recreate that cellular energy.

"I guess it's good I'll be going back with you, then," Rose said, finally. "It'd be hard on Mum to see me stay the same while she and Pete grew older. Mickey'd understand, I think, but it'd still be kinda rough. And... well, I'd have to watch all of 'em get old, wouldn't I? They'd die, all of 'em, and I'd be just the same, always. It's what you go through, all the time," she realized, looking up.

Nine shrugged. "Nine-hundred years, you get used to it."

"No, you don't," Ten said quietly.

Another silence fell on them. Eventually, the Doctor shoved his hands into his pockets and started rocking onto the balls of his feet. At the raised eyebrow from his other self and the curious look from Rose, he stopped and brought one hand back out to scratch behind his ear. He exuded a sort of jittery nervousness that he tried to hide by straightening his posture. "There is one aspect to this that we haven't really discussed, yet."

"What's that, then?" Nine crossed his arms.

The Doctor looked at Rose. "Forever."

"I meant it," she said, taking his hand.

"Yes, but in this case, 'forever' doesn't mean twenty or thirty years, staying with me until you get too old to run for your life or too tired to keep up. You'll live just as long as I will. And it'll be a very long time. Think centuries. Hundreds of centuries. Even more: millennia!"

Nine let out a barking laugh. "Think you'll last that long, do you? Less than ten centuries and you've already gone through _nine_ regenerations. Most Time Lords stretched each regeneration out for six or seven hundred years. That's how they could live for millennia. Of course," he reflected, "they played it safe. Never left Gallifrey, never had any adventures, never saved any planets from destruction, never ran for their lives. Not until the end, anyway. So, what are you planning to do? Settle down somewhere, with a house and a vegetable patch, and let the TARDIS become some sort of bizarre garden ornament?"

"Not likely," the Doctor replied, a lilt to his voice. "Think about it—who said we only get thirteen regenerations? The High Council. They forced a regeneration on us, and that could mean they controlled how many we got. Now that they're gone..."

"I can regenerate as often as I need to," he finished with astonishment. "Or, rather, _you_ can."

"And_ that_ means we really can have forever," Ten said softly, to Rose. "If you still want it, that is."

How many times did she have to say it before the Doctor would believe it? She tilted her head as she looked at him. Her eyes sparkled and she couldn't help teasing him. "That supposed to be some kind of proposal, then?"

His mouth dropped. "Um. Well..."

To Rose's amusement, Nine came to his rescue. "Time Lords don't have the same sort of system for marriage, Rose. Not much use for it, since physical union's been outlawed for a few hundred-thousand years or so, ever since Rassilon's days."

Physical union, as in...? Rose's eyes widened. "D'you mean to say that your people never had sex? How is that even possible? I mean, baby Time Lords had to come from somewhere! Even I know that."

"Baby Gallifreyans, actually. 'Time Lord' is more of a profession, not a race," the Doctor explained, naming his race for the first time that Rose could recall. She didn't miss the twitch of the other Doctor's jaw at the word—the Time War was still too fresh in his memory.

"And, yeah, they did come from somewhere," Nine said, spitting the words out as though they were obscene. "Every person's DNA was kept on file, and every generation a specific number of children were... conceived. Artificially. Called it 'looming', as if children were nothing but genetic specifications to be manipulated and blended to create perfect examples of our species. Just like making a rug the right size and colour to match your bedroom's décor."

Rose didn't blame him for the way he spoke. The whole idea sounded offensive. She wanted to be sure she understood, though. "Everyone was conceived artificially, then? And people didn't...? Not even for fun?"

"Nope." His voice began to drip with sarcasm. "Physical intimacy leads to all sorts of _emotions_, you see. Attraction, desire, love. And, being such advanced superior beings, we were supposed to avoid such entanglements. Only lead to trouble, after all."

"How sad," Rose whispered.

"Can't have love without hate," the tenth Doctor continued. "Hate leads to conflict and war and killing—all the things my people wanted to avoid. And d'you know? That lack of love is what destroyed them, in the end. They didn't want to interfere—called me a troublemaker and a renegade for doing so. By the time they figured out that they needed to do something to stop the Daleks, it was far too late."

"So, you're a renegade," she said slowly, "because you love everyone, the whole universe. You're always trying to help people, because you care so much."

They both nodded, but it was Nine who said, "They blamed my strange emotions on the fact that I wasn't loomed with the others. I had a mother who gave birth to me. I've got a belly-button, see?" He lifted his jumper and tugged the waist of his trousers down just enough to show off his normal-looking navel.

"Cute," Rose said, smiling a little. She'd known that the Doctor didn't like to talk about his past, or his people, but she'd always attributed that to the Time War and his role in it. Now that she knew just a little about his people—Gallifreyans—she could understand why he wandered the universe in a blue police box, alone except for whatever companions he happened to pick up along the way.

More than that, she finally understood why he'd been so reluctant to tell her that he loved her. He had expressed it in every way that he could—holding her hand, hugging her exuberantly, and taking her home to see her mother just because it made her happy. He did all that to counter his sterile upbringing, which had been so lacking in affection. And he'd been afraid, poor man, to tell her that he loved her, because his entire culture had essentially outlawed powerful emotions, and rebel that he was, taking that final step would mean complete abandonment of the Gallifreyan way.

Or, maybe he just had cold feet, like any other bloke.

_(To Be Continued...)_


	7. No Doubts

**Chapter Seven – _No Doubts_**

_He'd been afraid, poor man, to tell her that he loved her, because his entire culture had essentially outlawed powerful emotions, and rebel that he was, taking that final step would mean complete abandonment of the Gallifreyan way._

_Or, maybe he just had cold feet, like any other bloke._

_-.-.-.-.-.-.-_

Rose preferred her first idea. He _would_ have told her that he loved her when he'd said goodbye via hologram, if he hadn't run out of time. Earlier today, while snogging on the beach, he'd indirectly told her. And the other Doctor had apologized for _not_ telling her, which meant he had the feelings, even if he'd never expressed them in words.

She picked up the blanket from the bed and began folding it, careful and methodical, not looking up. "I've told you that I'll stay for as long as you'll have me. You know that I... You know how I feel about you. But I know you're not human, and so... What I mean is, I don't expect anything from you."

"Rose, I do love you," the Doctor replied, all in a rush. She glanced at him and saw how hard it had been for him to get the words out, but she could also see relief in his dark eyes, along with a nervous expectation. "I know that humans generally require some kind of commitment, so if you want me to promise that you're the only woman in my life, then I will. Well, no..."

He hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck. "I say 'the only woman in my life', but what if we get someone on board the TARDIS who happens to be female? She'll be in my life, so that won't do. Of course, the only way to get around that would be to make sure that we never encounter any women. Considering that more than half of all humanoids are female, that'd be rather difficult, wouldn't it?"

The Doctor crossed his arms and started to pace in the small medical room, while the other Doctor rolled his eyes and Rose tried not to laugh. It didn't matter to her so much, not really, but she knew that he thought she wanted it, needed it, and so he'd do his best. Furthermore, he had to get it right in his own head before saying it, otherwise it wouldn't mean a thing. As he paced, he muttered to himself. Rose watched for a minute or two, then had a sudden thought.

"Doctor, if Gallifrey's gone, does that mean the Looms are gone, too?"

The tenth Doctor stopped pacing, but the ninth answered. "Destroyed. Along with everything Gallifrey and the Time Lords stood for. Most of it was rubbish anyway."

She nodded. "So... as the last of your species, doesn't that mean it's up to you to try and... repopulate the species?"

The ninth Doctor had a coughing fit while the tenth Doctor leaned against the counter. "Never thought of that. Suppose you're right, though." His brown eyes lit up with amusement. "Fancy being the mother of an entire civilization, Rose?"

"I might, yeah," she answered, surprising herself. She saw the convulsive swallow and the way his body tensed. She tilted her head to catch his gaze and added, "So long as this civilization is founded the old fashioned way."

He pushed away from the counter and stepped toward her, eyes locked on hers. "Oh. Yes. Well, I think that could be arranged. Might even be fun, that."

Not for the first time, Rose wondered what sort of differences there might be between their respective anatomies. She received the distinct impression that she would be finding out before the day's end. Had she ever seen that particular expression on the Doctor's face before? So dark and desperate, yet loving and gentle at the same time.

Standing before her, he cleared his throat, then spoke quietly. "Rose, I... Remember back when we first met? You trusted me, you took my hand and let me save you, and then you turned right around and saved me, instead. It was a time when I didn't exactly want to be saved." He glanced at his previous self, with a knowing expression. "And if it'd been anyone except you, I would've just gone and found another way to die, afterwards. But I didn't, because I'd already fallen for you. And I kept right on falling every time you looked at me and smiled. Just like that, that's right!" He grinned and pointed at Rose, who had started to smile at him.

"You healed me," he went on, "and then... then, I lost you. In the blink of an eye, you were gone; all of the Void stood between us and I was broken again. It seemed as though the Void had somehow gotten inside of me. I felt so empty, as though the most important part of my soul had vanished. For a long time, I barely existed. I still helped people, because that's what I do, but I didn't let myself care. When people died, it didn't concern me. When I had to face an enemy, I did it without compassion, without mercy. Because none of it really mattered. Now... now I have you again, and... I can feel all those bits of me coming back to life. You make me a better person, Rose. You keep me sane. And... I know that if I lose you again, I will die."

She reached out and touched the Doctor's face, surprised to find his cheeks damp. Gently, she wiped his tears away, her glance falling to the drops of crystal liquid on her fingertips. What did one do with a Time Lord's teardrops? More importantly, what did one do with a Time Lord's hearts? The rarest commodities in the universe, both of them. The Doctor had never been so candid with her before. She could read the truth of his words in his eyes, the way he looked at her with love and need and open desperation. Rose took a deep breath and let it out.

"I remember when we met," she said. "And I think maybe we saved each other, that night. You plucked me from my ordinary little life, you stole me away in your blue fairy-box, and you gave me... everything. Before, I had a roof over my head, food to eat, a steady job, family and friends who loved me, and yet I still felt alone and insignificant. Maybe some of that was Jimmy Stone's fault, or maybe it was my own fault for thinking that I needed a certain type of bloke to feel important."

Rose shook her head. "But then I met you and you showed me that even an uneducated shop girl could make a difference. That I was _somebody_, even with no A-levels and an ex-boyfriend in prison. Everything that was wrong in my life, you fixed. And d'you know why? Because what was missing—was you. And I didn't even know it until I had your hand in mine, just like this." She laced her fingers through his and held on tightly. She opened her mouth to say more, but found her throat had closed off with emotion. So, instead, she raised their interlocked hands and kissed his knuckles. Her tears fell onto their fingers, mingling with his.

"Now_that_ was beautiful." The northern accent sounded unusually loud in the small room after all the emotional out-letting. He pushed off from the wall, where he'd been trying to give them space to express their feelings. Rose saw that his wide smile managed to express his happiness that the two of them had come to an arrangement, but it also held lingering grief that he'd just watched her give her love to another man. The other man would eventually be him, and that concept did help, but for the moment, it obviously still hurt.

It took only a couple of his long-legged strides to get to them. "Absolutely beautiful," he repeated, his smile turning into a grin. Only Rose noticed the slight edge to his voice and the tiny tremor at the corner of his mouth. He reached out and clapped them both on the shoulders. "I pronounce you... Time Lord and wife. Now, hurry up and kiss the bride, before I do it for you."

Rose knew that the Doctor only jested about them being married, but it still gave her a shiver and turned her skin to gooseflesh. She leaned forward for the obligatory kiss, only to find herself enveloped by one very possessive Time Lord. His lips found hers with bruising strength and she felt his hands smoothing away the bumps of her chill. She did love him, so very much. And yes, she'd made a life for herself on this world, Pete's World, as he'd called it, and she had family here, but none of that mattered. She had always been his, even through their separation, and now that he had her again, she wouldn't look back.

The sound of a throat clearing made the Doctor's hold on her lessen, and the other Doctor's voice interrupted the blissful haze that had fallen over them both. "Hate to interrupt, but don't I get a turn? Besides, someone's knocking on the door, and it's probably Jackie, in which case I am most assuredly _not_ going to answer it."

Rose giggled and the tenth Doctor kissed her once more, then tapped her nose and turned away. "I'll go see to Jackie. Oh! I nearly forgot—I've got something for her. You two finish up in here whilst I go dig out my gift for the Tylers. Don't be long, though. Rose's family will want to see her before we leave."

He dashed off, and the ninth Doctor stepped up to Rose and automatically reached for her hand. "Is he always like this? So... Well, so..."

"Hyper?" Rose supplied. "Afraid so. You should see him after he's had a lot of sugar—so much worse! Give him a Curly Wurly, and he'll bounce off the walls for hours, talking non-stop. You haven't even noticed his oral fixation, have you?"

"Aside from the way he kisses you? Can't say that I have. Each body has a different set of senses, some are more attuned than others. This time around, my ears and nose are extra-sensitive. Guess next time it'll be my taste buds. Can't complain, if you're what they get to taste," he added with a twisted smile.

When he kissed her, it didn't seem that he had much of a disadvantage.

"Will I see you again?" she asked, her lips beginning to puff from all the attention they'd been getting.

"You might. I've run into my past selves on more than a few occasions. But it won't be the same," he cautioned. "Once I'm back in my own timeline, I'll have to wipe my memory of all this. Wouldn't do to be back with Jack and my Rose, knowing what I know now, would it? The timeline would be contaminated, and who knows what I might end up doing? Something like this, maybe..."

With that, he lifted her up, setting her on the edge of the exam table. She clung to him, relaxing once she felt the solid surface beneath her hips. He lowered his head, as though to kiss her, but hovered just a couple inches from her face, playful and seductive. She made a quiet sound of protest, and he grinned. As his lips teased her face, his fingers touched her everywhere else, exploring. They roamed up her spine, and she arched her back. They glided across her stomach, down her thighs, and for a moment, she hated her bathing suit, even if it turned out that he liked it after all. His fingers skimmed her collarbone, down to the swelling of her breasts, back up to her throat, and she could hardly breathe. Such a cold, alien touch, but it created such a burning heat inside her. She wished they didn't have to go back outside in just a few moments.

He laughed softly, as though hearing her thoughts. For all she knew, he had. His hand ran down her back once more, then he made a clicking sound with his tongue. "What's this? You've got a bit of sunburn, here."

"Oh, yeah. I'm still not used to this world's sunlight being so strong. Something about the breach caused the ozone layer to evaporate, see. Now there's all kinds of ultra-violet rays, melted ice caps, weird weather patterns, that sort of thing. The warmer temperatures are nice for taking winter holidays, but come summer... well, I won't have to face that again, will I?"

He met her smile with one that almost hid the yearning. When he let go of her, she started to protest, but stopped when she saw that he intended to treat her sunburn. It didn't take much, just a cold gel rubbed into the skin, which he did gently. The sting, which she hadn't consciously noticed, disappeared.

"You sure you're all right?"

"'Course. Burn's all gone, thanks to your doctoring. Y'know, I always suspected you were a real doctor somewhere under all that Time Lord bravado."

He looked almost insulted. "Doesn't take a physician to rub a bit of gel into your back, Rose."

"No? Too bad." Rose wiggled the tip of her tongue from between her teeth. "'Cause, you know, I always wanted to play 'doctor'..."

"Fantastic," he murmured.

(To Be Continued...)


	8. A Paradox Lasts Forever

_**Chapter Eight – A Paradox Lasts Forever**_

_"'You know, I always wanted to play 'doctor'..."_

_"Fantastic," he murmured._

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

When they finally made it outside, Rose wore her sarong tied firmly about her waist. If anyone bothered to inspect the knot, they might've noticed that it had been tied with an intricate knot never before seen on this Earth, or any other. If her cheeks happened to be a bit red, well it had got rather hot out here, hadn't it?

"There you are. Rose, come and look!" Jackie waved a hand, beckoning. "The Doctor's brought all our things from the flat, packed up neat as you please. Look at this, all your baby photos. You were such a sweet little thing! Oooh, and my wedding album. 'Course, I got a new one, now, with this Pete. But that's all right; it's good to have the old one. Can't pretend it didn't happen, can we?"

Rose looked over her mother's shoulder as she exclaimed over more items. "All that from the one box? Wish we'd had you to help pack Mickey for this holiday. Filled two suitcases he did, and we all had to sit on them before he could get them closed!"

While Mickey protested, the Doctor winked at her. "Time Lord technology, Rose. Thought you'd figure that one out right away. One box holds the entire contents of the Tyler flat in London. I went in and packed up everything after Canary Wharf, before anyone else thought to go in and chuck it all out. Took a few days, because I... Well." His cheeks suffused with colour and he made a vague gesture. "Anyway, I hope it's not a bother, but I wasn't exactly sure what to hang onto and what to throw out, so I just put it all into a dimensionally transcendental packing crate and hung onto it... just in case. Didn't take up much room, and after all, the TARDIS isn't short on cupboard space."

"You did good," Rose said, reaching out to slide her fingers through the Doctor's.

"It's all there," he went on, squeezing her hand in return. "Well, not including furniture. And I left out your things, of course—thought you might want 'em." As he tugged on an earlobe, his eyes filled with a wistful hopefulness that made it plain why he'd left out Rose's belongings. "Oh, and I made copies of all the photographs, because... well. Cute baby, you were! Adorable bum, isn't that right, Jackie?"

"The cutest," Jackie answered, lifting out a small jewellery box. "Always had a good backside, my Rose. Perfect for smacking, and don't think I never laid a hand on her! As much trouble as she and Mickey got into, I nearly wore my arm off."

"Mum!"

"Oh, sweetheart. I must've done something right along the way, 'cause look at you now. I am _so_ proud of you. You know that, don't you?"

Rose nodded, a knot forming in her throat. Any minute now, and she'd have to say goodbye to her mother—forever. There'd be no coming back, no quick stops for tea or shopping, no dropping off a bag of laundry, or grabbing a few things she'd left behind. She wouldn't ever see her mum again.

"Don't you dare start crying, Rose Tyler! You made the right decision. I'm telling you, and you'd better listen to me, 'cause I'm your mum and I know what's best. You belong with him, out there—not stuck on this miserable planet with us. D'you hear me?" Jackie hugged Rose tightly and she tried to imprint the moment on her memory—the feel of her mum's arms around her, the familiar scent of rosewater and vanilla shampoo. When Jackie finally let go, she placed something into her daughter's palm.

"What's this?" Rose hated that her voice sounded thick with unshed tears.

"Those belonged to your grandmother. I want you to have 'em. Something to remember us by, so you don't forget where you came from. No matter how far you travel, or where you go in the universe, you have to remember who your family is, and that we love you. And, most important—that love is the one thing worth leaving us behind for."

Rose opened her hand to see the antique wedding rings that her grandmother had worn. Old and beautiful, one plain gold and one with diamonds, both twisted so that they fit together as one. She met her mother's gaze. "I won't forget, Mum. I promise you."

The ninth Doctor leaned over her shoulder. "Pretty rings. You should wear them."

"Better not. The trouble we get into? Wouldn't want to lose one of the diamonds in an alien bog or something." She closed her hand around them, feeling the cold metal dig into her skin.

"I can fix it so the stones won't come loose," the other Doctor promised, his voice low by her ear. "Go on. Show us what they look like."

She looked up at him and saw something in his dark eyes. Did he know what sort of rings they were? Maybe it was his way of underscoring what he'd said earlier, allowing her a human ritual to soften the alien reality of life with him. Silently, she slid the rings onto the fourth finger of her left hand. The Doctor nodded approval and laced his fingers with hers again.

"There he is," Jackie announced suddenly, breaking the quiet mood. "Don't know what took so long. S'not like we've all day to be standing about waiting for him."

"That would be Pete," the tenth Doctor said. "He arrived while you two were still inside the TARDIS, and your mum promptly sent him back up to the hotel to fetch his camera." He winced. "Did I mention—your mother wants photographs?"

Behind her, the Doctor stiffened, the leather of his jacket creaking just a bit, but Rose's eyes lit up. "But that's brilliant! Can you process 'em in the TARDIS and make copies for us? I've never had a proper photo of you, or him," and she gestured to the Doctor, who stood staring at Pete.

"I suppose I could, yes." The Doctor blew out a breath. The rush of air moved a fringe of hair away from his eyes. "But only because_you_ asked me to."

"Itdoes mean you'll have to stand still for a minute," she teased, "to get your picture taken, you know."

"Do I have to, really?" he almost-whined. "I have it on good authority that those things steal your soul."

Rose tilted her head, glancing over at the ninth Doctor. "How does that work, then? Can the both of you be in the same picture? Or would that be a sort of paradox?"

He grinned, pale blue eyes crinkling with amusement. "You think our heads will disappear, like in that film, _Back to the Future_? Be funny, wouldn't it? Sorry, no. If we can exist side by side in reality, then simply documenting that reality won't cause a problem."

"What would happen if one of your earlier selves saw a photo of you as you are now? Or if you saw a photo of one of your future selves?"

"Good question. Don't know, really, as it's never happened."

"Why?" The other Doctor looked at her suspiciously. "You planning to mail me an album? Not a good idea, that. It isn't that we'd vanish in a puff of smoke or anything. After all, I've met myself on occasion. Sometimes I'm the one from the future, like now, while other times I'm the one from the present. Sometimes there's a bunch of us and then it gets tricky."

"Sounds like fun, to me," Rose said, to keep him on the changed subject. "I'd like to meet all your past selves, see what you were like before you met me."

"Grumpy. And a poor dresser," Nine said. "We tend to argue a lot, dunno why."

Rose smirked. "Hadn't noticed."

Pete joined them, walking onto the beach in a white linen suit. He handed a small camera to Jackie, then deposited a large backpack at Rose's feet. "Thought you might want some of your things, so I packed up your clothes and toiletries, and threw in some of the fancy soaps from the hotel. Your laptop's in there, too. It might not connect to the net over in your universe, but at least you'll have all your files and such."

"You're wonderful," Rose praised, giving him a hug.

Once she'd let go, Pete turned and shook hands with each Doctor, apparently unfazed by the fact that there were two of them. While Jackie started snapping photos of Mickey and little Johnny, Pete talked quietly to the tenth Doctor.

"I probably shouldn't be bringing it up, but I just wanted to say thanks. You know, for what you did back at Canary Wharf," he said.

"Oh?" The Doctor tilted an eyebrow. "Sending all the Daleks and Cybermen to Hell, you mean? Nothing to it, really. All in a day's work. Actually, I'm the one who should be thanking you, for what you did for Rose—catching her just before she got sucked into the Void. Impressive timing!"

Pete chuckled. "But that's just what I meant, Doctor. Sending all those metal monsters into the Void and sealing it off was brilliant. It saved both our worlds. But if it hadn't been for your warning, our Rosie would've followed 'em right into Hell."

The Doctor's expression grew very solemn. "What do you mean, my warning?"

"What, don't you remember?"

"No, but I think you'd better tell me."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

As Pete and the tenth Doctor spoke privately beneath a coconut tree, Rose wandered off with the ninth Doctor. For several minutes, they just stood in each other's arms, holding each other close, giving each other shy grins. Eventually, though, Rose pulled away with a pensive look. She bit her lip. "D'you really have to forget all that's happened?"

He drew her close again. "It's better that way, Rose. Paradoxes, remember? Wouldn't want the world to end just because I got selfish and wanted to hold on to a handful of memories, now would we?" He tried to sound matter-of-fact, but his voice held a slight tremor.

"It's just... after all that's happened..."

"I'll get a second chance, Rose. After all, it isn't like I'm going anywhere, is it? A new face, a new wedding night. Not every bloke's so lucky as all that!"

"Mum and Pete got a chance like that, if you look at it that way," she said, glancing over to where her Mum stood snapping photograph after photograph.

The Doctor nodded, looking thoughtful. "So they did. Rose, d'you remember what you said to me, once? 'I wouldn't have changed a thing.' That's what you said and that's how I feel. Maybe I'll forget what happened today, but that doesn't mean that I'll forget how much I love you. I won't forget that, not ever."

"Promise?"

He leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose. "Promise."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

A short time later, all the pictures had been taken, and all the goodbyes had been said. Rose hugged her mum one last time, and kissed her baby brother on the cheek. "Don't let him forget me, Mum."

"Oh, don't you worry, sweetheart! Mickey and I'll tell him all your stories. He'll grow up knowing his big sister is a hero. We'll make sure of that." Jackie wiped her face, smudging a bit of mascara across her cheek. "Make sure you eat enough. And take your vitamins, the both of you. Got to take care of each other now that I won't be around to do it for you. Well, go on, then! Your Doctor's waiting."

Rose stood in the doorway of the TARDIS, tears streaming down her cheeks. She had the photos of everyone, but she took a moment to memorize the scene. Her mum, cradling little Johnny in her arms and trying not to cry. Pete, standing with his arm around Jackie, not tearful, but with eyes suspiciously red. And Mickey, arms crossed, with a gruff expression on his face that masked his sorrow. She loved all of them, and she would miss them—oh, how she would miss them!—but her destiny lay with the Doctor. With one last look, she blew them all a kiss, and then stepped back into the TARDIS and closed the door. It locked automatically with a soft click.

"All set?" the Doctor asked, coming to escort her up the ramp. As they passed by one of the support columns, he tossed his tan coat over the fork.

"Yeah. It's just going to take a bit to get used to this again." She ran her hand along the railing. "So, what was it you and Pete were talking about, there on the beach? You looked so serious."

"That? Oh, it was nothing." He exhaled with a huff. "Well, not really nothing. Pete was just telling me about a paradox I created, back at Canary Wharf. Nothing amiss, though. Universe is still there, completely intact, not a Reaper in sight."

Rose looked at him, her eyes widening with suspicion. "A paradox? Oh, my God, I _knew_ it! I got pulled into the Void, didn't I? And you went back and warned Pete to save me! Yeah?"

"...It's possible."

"You git! I can't believe you." She thumped him on the shoulder.

"No? Unless I'm mistaken, you're more than familiar with minor paradoxes." He tilted his head meaningfully at his past self.

"What d'you mean?" Rose's cheeks started to turn red. "I haven't done anything."

The Doctor studied her with an intense, interested look. "No? Then why're the capillaries in your face suffusing with blood? If you'd hadn't done anything, you wouldn't be blushing, now would you? In fact, if I had to guess, I'd say you did a lot more than nothing! Not really fair, is it—considering that I don't remember a thing?"

"Oh, that." Her blush deepened and spread to her ears.

"Yes,_that_. Care to refresh my memory, later?" He grinned in a manner both suggestive and hopeful. "Then we'll call it even and I won't trounce you for the _other_ small paradox you committed today. Speaking of, did you get enough pictures? I think your mum used up a dozen rolls of film—or would've done, if she didn't have a digital camera."

"Plenty, thanks. I'd show you some, but apparently you've already seen my favourite." She narrowed her eyes at him, her face still a bit pink. "And don't think I didn't notice you change the subject. We were talking about _your_ paradox. So, tell me about it! What happened, exactly?"

"Oh, no. That is a story for another time, my lady. We have places to go!" He waved her toward the centre of the room.

The ninth Doctor stood at the console, waiting for them. "It's going to take both of us to navigate the Void. Used to be easy-peasy for Time Lords to do this sort of thing, but with just the two of us, it's a bit tough. Might get bumpy, so hold on to something, once we get going. Or strap yourself in. Seat's got restraints now, I noticed. Nice touch that—glad I'll think of it."

"Got tired of all the complaining every time the old girl had a rough landing. Was either install a seatbelt or start having companions sign a disclaimer before they came on board," the Doctor replied, as he slid his glasses on to examine a set of numbers on the display screen.

"Didn't occur to you to just fix the landing stabilisers?" Rose asked.

Both Doctors glared at her with the same indignant stare.

"Right. Sorry. What was I thinking?" She hid a smile and perched on the jump seat. Sometime in the past few years it had been reupholstered in a rugged suede and now sported a set of restraints, complete with sturdy buckles. She ran her fingers along the edge of the seat and keenly missed the old battered leather with its many duct tape mends.

A lot had changed, she realized, taking a moment to actually look around. Again, she wondered just how much time had passed for the Doctor. Much more than had for her, she suspected. He'd done a lot of repairs—the long loops of cabling still hung from the ceiling, but neatly restrained instead of draped haphazardly, and the main console looked much tidier than she remembered. Doing that sort of work had likely kept him sane, she figured, judging by the way he'd always tinkered on his ship when upset about anything. The melody of the TARDIS in her mind remained steady and familiar, but the colours of the room had altered to dark blue with red accents. But even as she watched, the colours began to shift back toward the amber and blue-green that she remembered so well.

Both Doctors looked up from where they'd been calibrating and checking settings on the console. "Consider it a 'welcome home' gift," one said with a grin.

"It's beautiful. Thanks." Rose leaned over and stroked the nearest support column with affection. It felt warm beneath her fingers, pulsing with life. "Very thoughtful."

"Are you ready, then? It's time we were off."

"Yeah. 'Course." She nodded, then bit her lip. "It's just..."

The ninth Doctor busied himself with a screen that had popped up out of the console; the tenth Doctor went over to Rose. He sat beside her and took her hands in his. She looked into his eyes and drew a breath at how ancient they looked. She'd completely overlooked the strands of grey at his temples, but his eyes showed the strain of every year that he'd spent alone. "What is it, Rose? Having second thoughts? If you... if you really don't want to come, I won't make you. I've never forced a companion, and I won't start with you. Even if you are more than _just_ a companion. I want what's best for you, and if that means leaving you here with your family, then..."

Rose stopped him with a finger against his lips. "Shut it. I'm not having doubts! I never have. It's just that... I'm afraid."

"Afraid?" He shook his head, confused.

"I know you proved it wasn't, but I can't help thinking: what if all this is a dream? What if I'm lying on the beach out there, in a coma, or vegetative state, or even just sleeping, and all this is inside my head? A delusion, because I couldn't handle reality any more. Or else a very real dream. It seems too good to be true, really."

The Doctor clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Rose, am I going to have to do this every time you question your sanity?"

Without giving her time to react, he put his hands on either side of her face, tilted her head to just the right angle, and kissed her. At first, he kept it chaste, just a mild meeting of lips. But then he deepened the kiss. His tongue flickered against her lips and darted into the warmth of her mouth, pulling a sound of contentment from her. Shivers wracked her body, and when the Doctor pulled away, he wore a very smug expression. "Think that'll hold you a bit?"

"Oh, I dunno. What if I still have doubts?"

"Then, Miss Tyler, I shall have to work very diligently at exorcising every—last—doubt," he said, kissing her soundly in between each of the last three words. "But, I'm afraid it will have to wait until we are safely back in our own universe."

She couldn't help but smile as he stood and took his place with a parting wink. The ninth Doctor glared at his later incarnation, but Rose just shook her head. He had nothing to be jealous about. Only one Doctor would get to keep her, but it was only a matter of time before he _was_ that one.

While she watched, the two of them danced around the console, entering coordinates and double-checking everything. Both looked intense. She remembered the Doctor's warning and wondered just how bumpy this trip would get. As much as she hated the idea of strapping herself down for her first trip in ages, she decided it would be far better than getting concussed or winding up with broken bones, even if they would heal with miraculous speed now. After taking a moment to figure out the mechanism, Rose pulled the harness down over her shoulders and felt a click as the buckles snapped together, interlocking with the strap that came up between her thighs. "Ready," she called out.

"All right, then. Off we go!" Nine pushed down on a shiny lever and adjusted a series of knobs she didn't recognize, traded places with the other Doctor to check the monitor and spin a particular dial, then vigorously primed the bicycle pump. Ten tugged on one final lever, and the time rotor began to move up and down: the most beautiful sound in the world to Rose's ears. A vibration built up, subtle at first, but quickly grew into a strong, constant shudder. She hung on for dear life as the TARDIS pierced the Void. Far from being afraid, she felt amusement bubbling up inside her. Both her Doctors glanced over and met her laughter with manic delight of their own.

The lights flickered. The tremors stopped for an instant as the TARDIS fell, then increased with a hard jolt as the artificial gravity strove to compensate. The time ship dove and spun about, still within the Void. Rose praised whatever intuition had made her buckle up instead of trying to ride the storm out at the console. She couldn't understand how either Doctor kept his feet, but both stood there, gripping the console's edges as they shouted instructions at each other and made last-second course corrections.

When the buffeting finally ended, Rose almost thought she would be sick. The room seemed to still be spinning about, though the time rotor had ceased its motion. The Doctor knelt in front of her and undid the buckles with hasty motions. She fell forward into his arms, not at all sure she could stand. She'd felt an odd sort of _snap_ as they'd entered this universe, but whether they were floating in the Vortex or had landed somewhere, she couldn't tell. She rather hoped they'd landed, just for the assurance that the TARDIS would remain steady for the present.

While his counterpart looked on with folded arms and a resigned sadness in his blue eyes, the Doctor lifted Rose up and set her on her feet, but kept his arms around her.

"Rose Tyler," he said softly, "welcome home."

"Really?"

"Really really," he promised.

"Mmm." She gave a content, if somewhat queasy sigh. "I was home before we even crossed over, y'know."

"That so?"

"Funny how a little blue police box can wiggle its way into a person's heart."

With her head against his chest, she sensed, rather than saw, the Doctor's grin. "Rose Tyler... how long you gonna stay with me?"

She lifted her head to grin back. "Forever."

"That's my girl! Come on, let's see where we've landed."

_(To Be Concluded...)_

* * *

_ Author's Note: Details of the Doctor's paradox can be found in Impossible Things I: _"_What Price?_". 


	9. Expectation Postponed

**Epilogue – _Expectation Postponed_**

The Doctor woke with a bit of a headache and a dry mouth. The echoing laughter of Rose and Jack told him what had roused him, but when he sat up, he found himself not in bed, as one might reasonably expect upon waking, but on the jump seat in the console room. His leather jacket hung precariously from a lever on the console. He ran a hand over his wrinkled jumper, trying to make himself look presentable and nonchalant about where he'd slept. Rose's tired giggle floated through the air; he looked up to see her leaning on Jack as they squeezed through the TARDIS' door. She looked as exhausted as he felt... but wait, why should he be tired, then, if he'd only just woken up?

"Rough night, Doc?" Jack grinned at him, supporting Rose even as he slipped out of the silk kimono he'd worn over his jeans and t-shirt.

"Not as rough as yours," the Doctor replied. He eyed Rose, who wore a much longer version of Jack's kimono, pale pink as opposed to the soft yellow of Jack's, with intricate embroidery along the edges of the sleeves. She looked beautiful, even with the flush of too much sake. "Did you enjoy Kyoto?"

"It was amazing," Rose gushed. "I bought a fan that's hand-painted with all these little birds and flowers—it's beautiful. Got one just like it for my mum, too. Oh! And we got you something. Jack, where's it?"

"Right here." Jack displayed a rare vintage of sake. "I'll stick it in the drinks cabinet, 'kay?"

The Doctor waved consent and leaned over to glance at the readings on the console display. When he wondered what had caused him to fall asleep in such an unusual place, and why he'd be so tired upon waking, only one idea came to mind. He didn't like it. Sure enough, a tiny spike in the chronometric readings indicated that someone else had been travelling in this region of time and space. The scanner identified another TARDIS, which meant only one thing...

"Something wrong, Doctor? I put the alcohol away and tucked Rosie in bed. She's so worn out that we hired one of those miniature carriages—you know, where the driver pulls it himself?—to get back to the TARDIS. Don't worry, I had him drop us off about a block away. So, what'd you find to amuse yourself all day?" He paused, leaning against the console. "You don't look so hot, if you don't mind my saying."

"Bad idea to take a nap on the seat," the Doctor answered casually.

"Right. And your little nap wouldn't have anything to do with _this_, would it?" Jack plucked a stiff piece of paper from where it stuck out of the leather jacket's side pocket. To the Doctor's consternation, he studied it for a long moment before silently holding it out.

It turned out to be a photograph of Rose, on a beach. But, he'd never seen her in that bathing suit before, nor did he recognize the sandy cove.

Abruptly, the Doctor sat down.

Rose's hair was short, much shorter than he'd ever seen her with. And a different shade of blonde, more natural-looking than she usually wore it. The tiny date in the corner indicated a future still three years away. But that wasn't what made him feel queasy. The photo showed Rose with a man. Whoever had taken the picture had captured what was obviously meant to be a private moment. They had their arms around each other, bodies pressed close—much too close—and they were looking into each other's eyes with a mixture of passion, longing, and the sort of utter adoration that comes after a couple has only recently become lovers. She wore a set of wedding rings on her left hand.

No._No..._

The Doctor pushed to his feet, fighting back nausea. And Jack had the gall to snicker?

"Uh, Doc... you do recognize the guy, right?"

He stopped himself just short of crumpling the photo. Beyond seeing that the person who so intimately held _his_ Rose was indeed a man, he hadn't looked closely enough to make an identification. Shutting out Jack's amusement, the Doctor held the picture to the light and squinted.

The photo dropped from suddenly nerveless fingers.

"That's impossible," he said, and Jack stooped to retrieve the photo from the floor.

"Oh, I dunno. I've seen all sorts of impossible while travelling with you." Jack smirked. "The big question is, how did the picture get here? Did someone from the future just drop it off? Maybe to let you know that there's hope for you yet?"

"Funny. But no." He brought up the chronometric scan. "See this? Another TARDIS landed this morning, just after you and Rose left to explore Kyoto. It dematerialized twenty-two minutes later, but reappeared half an hour ago and stayed for nine and a half minutes."

"Now, see, _that's_ impossible," Jack said. "There are no other TARDISes, that's what you told me, right? So it couldn't have been a TARDIS. Another time ship, maybe? The Agency?"

"Trust me, it was a TARDIS. _My_ TARDIS, to be exact. How do I know? Look at the picture. What am I wearing?"

Jack tilted the photo, studying the Doctor's image. "Same as usual: black jeans, boots, sweater—sorry, _jumper_. And your jacket, of course."

The Doctor held his arms out and turned in a circle. Jack eyed him carefully. After a second, his blank look turned incredulous. "You're wearing the same clothes. I'd say your fashion sense just never changed, but you're wearing the _exact_ same clothes! How is that possible? I mean, what happened—your future self crosses his own timeline in order to take you with him to the future so you can marry Rose, but then drops you off here with no memory of it? Makes no sense."

"Could be _I'm_ not the groom. Maybe I wanted a best man and decided no one else would do."

Jack crossed his arms in annoyance. "What about me? Maybe we're not _best_ friends, but I'd make a better best man than _yourself_!"

"Not if you're not around anymore," the Doctor said. "Three years from now, you'll have moved on with your life. Found something better. Everyone does."

"Better than this?" Jack snorted. "Time travel's in my blood, Doc. I'd sooner die than stop travelling with you and Rose."

"Maybe you did."

"It's possible," Jack said, after a moment's contemplation. "Not exactly the safest life we lead. But what about the whole amnesia bit? Why'd you wipe your own memory, if that's what happened?"

"Oh, I always do. It's safer that way—can't risk having knowledge of the future."

Jack couldn't help but grin as he leaned against the console. "Visit yourself a lot, do you?"

"From time to time. And no, I don't do what I know you're thinking."

"Right. Forgot who I'm talking to." Jack stared at the Doctor, then shook his head. "Okay, so why erase your memories but leave photographic evidence?"

"I wouldn't have," he answered, frowning. "That's what's so confusing."

Jack took the picture and examined it. "Doesn't look like a fake. Who are those people in the background? There, next to the coconut tree."

The Doctor produced a magnifying glass. With it, he poured over the photograph, studying every detail. After several minutes, he looked up with a sober expression. "More impossibilities. I've never seen the fellow in the brown suit, so I can't say who he is. Now, the one on the far left is easy: that's Mickey, Rose's boyfriend. No surprise there, but the one on the right, the ginger bloke? That's Rose's father."

"Makes sense that he'd be at your wedding, doesn't it?"

The Doctor made a face that meant he thought Jack had the intelligence of a lesser primate. "Sure. He'd love to be there. Except that he _died_ in 1987, when Rose was a few months old."

"Right." Jack exhaled and ran a hand through his hair. "Then it must be a fake. Someone's playing a joke on you."

The Doctor waved the magnifying glass, reminding Jack of how intensely he'd examined the photo. "Pete looks twenty years older than the last time I saw him... but he died, I know he died—I was there. I'd say that someone went back and changed things so he lived, but what with the Reapers already drawn to that particular time and location, it'd be impossible. That leaves one possibility..."

"Do share."

The Doctor stared at the picture for a long moment, a deep line appearing between his eyebrows. Then he shrugged and gave a manic smile. "It's a fake. Just like you said. Probably Rose's idea of a joke, the little minx."

"Maybe she's trying to give you a hint." Jack winked and patted the Doctor's shoulder.

"You humans, such odd senses of humour." He flicked the picture away, then pressed a few buttons on the console, erasing the evidence of the other TARDIS. "Go on to bed, Jack. I know you're as tired as Rose was, probably more if you had to keep a leash on her all day."

"Yeah, I am tuckered out. Kyoto's a big city. Magnificent to see it in this time period. You missed a great thing! No adventures, no running for our lives, just a nice day off, playing tourist."

"Next time, I promise."

"I'll remember that," Jack warned, as he headed for the door.

The Doctor waved, waited until Jack had gone, then turned back to the console. He leaned forward and retrieved the photograph from where it had landed. A sombre look graced his face as he studied it again. Despite what he'd told Jack, he didn't believe it was a joke. The photo was real. It had come from the future. And it had Rose's father in it.

Only one possibility came to mind: a parallel world.

But that made no sense. Without several Time Lords working in conjunction, travel to parallel universes couldn't happen. Had an alternate version of Pete been pulled through Cardiff's Rift? No, he didn't think anyone could travel through the Rift and survive, even if it did lead to another Earth, which he doubted.

He hated to leave a mystery unsolved, but he had no choice.

The Doctor sighed. He couldn't bring himself to destroy a picture that showed Rose looking at him in that way, and yet he couldn't risk her coming across it and asking questions. He reached below the console and pressed a spot which opened a hidden drawer. Neither Jack nor Rose knew about it, so the picture should remain undiscovered there. He shoved a couple of tools out of the way and placed the photo into the drawer, face down. Just as he moved to close the drawer, he noticed something faint on the back of the picture. With a frown, he picked it back up and held it under the light. There, across the middle of it, very faint. Only at the right angle could he even see it.

_I love you_, it said.

He recognized Rose's handwriting.

Shivers prickled his skin as he traced the words with one finger.

_I love you._

Did she? Would she? He had loved her from the beginning, but so many reasons demanded that he not pursue her: their major age difference; how fragile and short-lived humans were; Mickey's prior claim; and the Gallifreyan laws opposing intermarriage, though he supposed they didn't count. As the only Gallilfreyan still living, he had every right to alter or delete the laws as he saw fit.

Supposing he changed his mind and did marry her, three years from now—what did that have to do with an alternate Pete Tyler? Why had his future self brought him into the future? And why had Rose chosen to leave him this clue? More questions crowded his mind, but he had no answers.

It would do no good to keep staring at the image of Rose in his arms, knowing that he had held her with such possession, looked at her with such love, and then had the memories of it erased. With a pang, he placed the photo carefully into the drawer. In due time, he'd find out what that was all about. Until then, he'd do better to forget it.

Still, while he waited for the future to catch up with him, he couldn't help the tiny sliver of hope that glowed inside his heart.

_(the end) _

* * *

_ Author's Notes: Once more, I'd like to thank my beta reader Little Zink, and my Brit-pickers aligoestonz and jvgymnast, for sticking with me and making this a better story. I'd also like to thank all of the readers who left reviews, especially those who took the time to comment throughout the whole story. Thanks!_


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